In the 1970's, Arn is just your average boy in Cambodia. He sells ice cream with his brother to get some extra money and loves rock and roll. But then the soldiers come, and his life is forever changed. He is separated from his family and forced to work in a blazing hot rice paddy, witnessing things a twelve-year-old boy should never see. One day, when a soldier asks if he is able to play a musical instrument, Arn says he can, although he cannot. He knows how these men value their sacred revolutionary songs and hopes that playing the men their songs just might save his life. He is correct, but his bit of freedom comes with a horrible price. This is as far I got in the reading.
The books graphic nature is beyond a young student compatibility. From the explicit shooting at the toy village (pg.132) where no one was left alive. But also when the Vietnamese was slicing the villagers non-stop(pg.140), but even the harmless such as a mother and her baby. But one more when Arn hears the sound of crushing skulls three times a day(pg.66). I think the reason Patricia used such explicit scenes to show how the Vietnamese war really went on and not candy coat it.
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