Bamboo People

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins is a young adult, coming-of-age, historical fiction novel about two boys—one Burmese, the other Karenni—growing up during an intense period of violence between the Burmese military and the Karenni people. The book was named an “ALA APALA Honor Book, Indies Choice Honor Book of the Year for Young Adults, ALA Top Ten Book in Best Fiction for Young Adults, [and] International Reading Association Notable Book for a Global Society [and received] Illinois’ Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award” (Perkins, Mitali. Bamboo People, Blogger). The novel explores role models and (absent) father figures, friendship that crosses the borders of both social class and ethnicity, and Education Versus Propaganda/Hatred.

Perkins was inspired to write this novel after living in Thailand for three years and visiting a Karenni refugee camp there (see “Authorial Context”). She was moved by the Karenni people’s resilience despite hardship and was sympathetic to the suffering of Burmese civilians under the military regime(s). Perkins has degrees in political science and public policy and has worked as both a teacher and a writer.

This guide references the Charlesbridge (2010) edition of the novel.