Chiko isn't a fighter by nature. He's a book-smart Burmese boy whose father, a doctor, is in prison for resisting the government. When Chiko is forced into the army by trickery, he must find the courage to survive the mental and pyhysical punishment meted out by the training facility's menacing captain.<BR>Tu Reh can't forget the image of the Burmese soldiers burning his home and the bamboo fields of his oppressed Karenni people, one of the many ethnic minorities in Burma. Now living in a Karenni refugee camp on the Thai border, Tu Reh is consumed by anger and the need for revenge. He can't wait to join his father and the Karenni resistance in the effort to protect their people.<BR>Chiko and Tur Reh's stories come to a violent intersection as each boy is sent on his first mission into the jungle. Extreme circumstances and unlikely friendships force each boy to confront what it means to be a man of his people.<BR>Set against the political and military backdrop of modern-day Burma, <i>Bamboo People</i> explores the power of courage and compassion to overcome violence and prejudice.<BR>Mitali Perkins has spent much of her life crossing borders. Born in Kolkata, India, she has lived in Ghana, Cameroon, England, New York, Mexico, California, Bangladesh, and Thailand. <BR>Mitali lives in an otherwise all-male household with her husband, two sons, and two Labrador retrievers in Newton, Massachusetts. She is the author of <i>Monsoon Summer</i>, <i>The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen</i>, <i>Rickshaw Girl</i>, and <i>Secret Keeper</i>.