Based on the experiences of the author’s mother, this is the story of a Canadian MK who grew up in Taiwan in the early 1900s. The book follows her from her early childhood in Taiwan, to Canada where she grows up with her siblings and her mother’s relatives and afterwards her mother returns to Taiwan to rejoin her father in ministry. Her reentry experience is especially poignant, as she is given the responsibility to take care of her brother in a foreign world. But is there anyone to take care of her?
In simple language, the author tells the true story of Rudyard Kipling, who spent his early childhood in India, and returned there after completing his education in England. Because his ayah and servant told him (in Hindi) about their views of the world and of religion, Kipling struggled when he was left in England with a family who allowed no questions about their way of doing things. This story focuses mostly on Kipling’s childhood and young adulthood.
Reentering a passport culture is usually a tough transition for TCKs since they’re going through a cultural shift that the people around them can’t easily see. They look like the people around them but inside they are from a whole different place and way of thinking. TCKs who have recently gone through this reentry themselves share their experiences here–the good and the bad– and give advice about navigating reentry.
Lexi has always been an outsider. She lived in the Amazon and the deserts of Arizona before moving to Africa. But after their houseboy (her dear friend) was killed by soldiers, Lexi’s parents decide it is too dangerous for her to stay with them, so they send her to boarding school in the U.S. There she feels completely misunderstood as rumors spread about her strange past But she looks forward to staying at her aunt and uncle’s farm in upstate New York for the summer. She hopes to become a part of a big, happy family, but when she arrives, she quickly discovers that is not to be. Even though her two girl cousins try to include her, she does not share either their interests or their skills, and her older boy cousins spend their lives playing baseball. Only in Jeb, a year younger than Lexi, does she find a friend. A misfit himself, he is fascinated with the Indian way of life, and confides in Lexi that he has heard that a small tribe lives in the nearby mountains. He plans to run away to find the tribe and ask them to adopt him. Lexi decides to join him, and they set off down the river on a raft Jeb built. Their journey is full of mishaps but the adventure teaches both of them much about their own strengths.
Two Japanese-American kids, ages 5 and 11, move to Japan where their father’s company has been posted. Both kids initially dread the move and they are recognized as “gaijin” (foreigners) when the arrive, in spite of the fact that they are ethnically Japanese. Though they take different approaches to settling into new surroundings, both children eventually adjust, recognizing finally that they’ve grown in “ways that can’t be measured by a yardstick.” This oversized chapter/picture book is rather long for young children but would be good for older elementary or middle schoolers.
Nona, who was raised by her Ayah on her father’s tea estate in India, is sent back England to live with relatives at age eight. Given no choice in the matter, she feels very out of place in the new country. She dresses and talks differently, likes different things, and finds life in the city frighteningly fast-paced. Her older cousins are kind, but her younger cousin, jealous of the attention Nona was given, teases Nona and makes it harder for her to fit in. Then Great-Aunt Lucy sends two Japanese dolls from America, and as Nona works to make the two dolls from a foreign land feel comfortable, she finds herself making friends and adjusting to her new life, as well. The story is followed by detailed instructions for making a Japanese dollhouse, the project Nona and her cousins undertake in the book.
(NOTE: For those who want to read about further adventures of the girls and their Japanese dolls, Little Plum (1962) is a sequel. In this second book, however, Nona is well-adjusted to life in England and the focus is more on Nona’s cousin, Belinda, so it is not included on this website as a TCK book.)
