Caged
“I live in a cage, but I don’t know it.”
From the viewpoint of a six-year-old born in a refugee camp, we grow with our understanding of what it is to live with your family in a cage “guarded by men with guns.”
Because Kao Kalia Yang is an artist with words that affect our hearts and our minds, we learn about hope and love from this child.
Her aunt, Golden Flower, tells the children in camp that they are “people from the sky who have lost our wings. She says one day the great heavens will bring us new ones.”
Their families are in this camp because they are fleeing a war. They await papers to leave the camp. They have been waiting for eight years. When they travel on, they must leave behind family, friends, and pets.
The digital illustrations by Khou Vue have a warmth and childlike playfulness which speaks to the people’s resilience. The subdued color palette nudges us to remember we are seeing people who are hurting. The ever-present guards with guns keep the reader aware of the circumstances. Vue’s faces will not be easy to forget.
This haunting book helps us focus on what it is like to leave home, to be imprisoned, to keep hope alive.
In the author’s note, Kao Kalia Yang shares that her six-year-old daughter asked her about photos of toddlers in cages at the U.S. / Mexico border. She answered her daughter’s question about what it’s like to live in a place like this from her own experience. Born in Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, Kalia’s parents escaped the genocide of the Hmong people in Laos.
Today, as people are once again being placed in cages, both children and adults, this time within American borders, this book will help awaken the empathy and outrage of people who must take up the cause of freeing all people from cages.
Read this book. Share this book. Kao Kalia Yang’s words and Khou Vue’s images will find a place in your heart.
Caged
written by Kao Kalia Yang
illustrated by Khou Vue
published by Kokila / Penguin Young Readers, 2024
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Kalia is it brilliant and compelling writer, for kids and adults.
Everything that Kalia writes is amazing!