Author: Tana Reiff
As Saigon fell in 1975, the Nguyen family, Mai and Set and their three children, escaped by helicopter from the roof of the U.S. embassy, but they were separated. Mai, with her two smaller children, went alone to Guam and eventually to Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Set and Vinh, their older son, were taken to a camp in the Philippines. Set eventually was settled in California. Long months went by. Separated by 2,500 miles, Mai and Set began to adapt to American culture. But with determined faith and hope, and help from friends, the Nguyens never gave up on their search to find each other.
Hopes and Dreams is a series of dramatic historical readers for beginners. The hopes and dreams of the characters in these stories are a reflection of the hopes and dreams of virtually every group of people who have ventured from their homes to a new place for a new life in America. Each story and its characters reflect a part of the history of the United States. Yet, at the same time, each story is different; the characters face challenges, defeats and victories in the fields and factories of Southern California, the gold fields of the West, the construction of the railroad in Utah, Chinatown in San Francisco, the Deep South and Southside Chicago, and New York’s Little Italy.
Available free online, the teacher’s supplement includes the following:
- Brief plot summaries
- Discussion Questions for each chapter
- Historical photographs
- Detailed plot summaries
- Historical background
- Comprehension check: “What Did You Read” Form
- Book report form
- Word play activity
- Final Review Cloze activity
