Kao Kalia Yang - From the Tops of the Trees

For the loving arms that hold us high so we can see beyond the fences of our worlds K.K.Y.

To Kalia, who has gone beyond the tops of the trees to share her story with the world R.W.

Text copyright 2021 by Kao Kalia Yang

Illustrations copyright 2021 by Rachel Wada

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Carolrhoda Books

An imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

First Avenue North

Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

For reading levels and more information, look up this title at www.lernerbooks.com .

Authors note photo courtesy of Chue Moua. Map by Laura Westlund/Independent Picture Service.

Designed by Emily Harris.

Main body text set in Horley Old Style MT Std.

Typeface provided by Monotype Typography.

The illustrations in this book were created with a combination of traditional mediums, including graphite and watercolor, and digital mediums, including Adobe Photoshop and Procreate.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Yang, Kao Kalia, 1980 author. | Wada, Rachel, illustrator.

Title: From the tops of the trees / Kao Kalia Yang ; illustrated by Rachel Wada.

Description: Minneapolis : Carolrhoda Books, [2021] | Audience: Ages | Audience: Grades | Summary: A powerful true story of a young girl who has never known life outside a refugee camp and a father determined to help her dream beyond the fences that confine them Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020049356 (print) | LCCN 2020049357 (ebook) | ISBN 9781541581302 | ISBN 9781728430584 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: RefugeesJuvenile literature. | Refugee campsJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC HV640 .Y368 2021 (print) | LCC HV640 (ebook) | DDC 362.7/7914dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020049356

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020049357

Manufactured in the United States of America

1-47329-47956-3/24/2021

Kao Kalia Yang

illustrated by Rachel Wada

t Carolrhoda Books Minneapolis

Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, Thailand, 1985

When the sun gets to the highest point in the sky, the leaves of our favorite tree become a great umbrella of cool for my cousins and me to play under.

Hurry!

Mai throws a ball of rice onto the ground. Yer races the chickens in the yard to get to it. A bald rooster with black tail feathers beats her. The look on her face is so sad and so hungry the fun disappears.

I wave the Lion Dog and the Jackie Chan Dog close. I hold onto the Lion Dogs neck and climb on his back. I push my little legs into his sides and try not to fall when he starts to walk. I can feel myself slipping off his back, but Im not afraid. My father catches me just in time.

In his arms, he lifts me higher and higher. I squeal.

My father says, When someone falls, you have to pick them up and lift them higher than they were before!

After a night of heavy rain and wind, we wake to find pebbly fruits scattered on the ground. Beneath our tree, Yer and I crouch low and look for the fruits that are still good enough to eat.

We know that if we eat too many, well get stomachaches and our mothers will be mad. If we eat only one or two, we can pretend were eating hard candy and it is a very special treat.

In the quiet, we can hear the aunties talking about the war as they sew. They talk to each other about the river they had to cross to get to Thailand. They talk to each other about how Thailand wants Hmong refugees to leave their country. They are scared to return to the old country. They are scared to go to a new country. The adults talk of war, and they get scared all over again as if the war was not yet over.

That afternoon I ask my father about the war, and he says, Youre safe.

He takes one of my small hands in his big one and tells me, Look at your hand. He points down at the tips of my toes and says, Look at your feet.

He says, Your hands and your feet will travel far to find peace.

His eyes are as serious as his voice, so I say, Yes, they will.

It is rations day. Every week, a big truck comes into the empty space in the middle of where we live. Thai soldiers give each family enough food for three days. They tell us they are practicing a Humane Deterrence Policy so that no more Hmong people come into the country. I dont know what they are talking about, but I do what the adults around me do and nod my head like I understand.