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.

Content Warning: The book (and this guide) discuss violence and human rights abuses, including the use of child soldiers, graphic war atrocities, “disappeared” people, physical and sexual violence, and hate crimes such as forced deportation.

Plot Summary

Bamboo People is told by two protagonists. The first is Chiko, a 15-year-old bespectacled Burmese boy from Yangon who is desperate to support his family after the government arrests his father, a skilled doctor. An aspiring teacher, Chiko goes to take a teaching exam. Before he leaves, his neighbor gives him photos of his father and of his crush. The “exam” is actually a trap set up by the Burmese military; Chiko and several other boys are forcibly conscripted and taken to a training center (once a Karenni gym) near the Thai border.

There, Chiko befriends a street orphan named Tai, who wants to escape and reunite with his younger sister. Chiko sends a secret letter to Tai’s family to help him. After Tai’s failed escape attempt, Chiko and Tai are punished by the captain who captured them—a bully who constantly gives the two boys extra work and “discipline.” Although Chiko is initially hesitant, he and Tai become close friends. They strike a deal: The clever, resourceful Tai will teach Chiko how to survive the military, while Chiko will teach Tai how to read and write, ensuring better job opportunities back in Yangon. Their skills catch the attention of their training sergeant. He makes Chiko his secretary, allowing him to search for information about his father, and Tai becomes a team leader.

The boys resist the captain’s propaganda, which demonizes and scapegoats ethnic minorities like the Karenni, and refuse to take part in the near-fatal beating of a boy in the camp who has Shan heritage (another ethnic group). The captain forbids Chiko from wearing his glasses and throws Tai into solitary confinement for three days. When Chiko is summoned to Yangon for clerical work and Tai is selected for a jungle mission, Chiko sacrifices his dream to return home. He takes Tai’s place on the mission, becoming a landmine sweeper, while Tai travels to Yangon instead. Chiko clears the trail for his squad of five while they hunt for a secret Karenni weapons cache. Chiko finds a safer trail, but his squad accidentally sets off a mine, which kills four of them. In his haste to help them, Chiko sets off another mine, which injures one of his legs and knocks him unconscious.

The second half of the book is told by Tu Reh, a 16-year-old Karenni boy who escaped to a Thai refugee camp after the Burmese military destroyed his home village. Full of anger and hate, Tu Reh swears vengeance on all Burmese; in addition, he seeks the approval of his father, who worries about Tu Reh’s bloodthirst. Tu Reh is overjoyed when Peh, his father, takes him on a jungle mission. They encounter Chiko’s squad in the jungle. Tu Reh is astonished when Peh treats Chiko’s wound and encourages Tu Reh to save Chiko; however, Peh asserts that this must be Tu Reh’s decision. Tu Reh wants to kill Chiko but eventually empathizes with the boy and agrees to save him.

He separates from Peh’s group and carries Chiko to a nearby healer’s hut (the supposed weapons cache). There, he meets Ree Meh, her sister Nya Meh (the healer), and their grandfather. Nya Meh treats Chiko but says he needs additional medical care. The grandfather decides to take Chiko to the Karenni refugee camp across the border in Thailand. Tu Reh objects but is outvoted.

The next day, the group begins their journey. They encounter a rampaging elephant and Burmese soldiers but reach the camp just in time. Tu Reh transports Chiko to the medic’s hut; Auntie Doctor and Nya Meh take over. Tu Reh takes Ree Meh to stay with his family because she and her family are now displaced. They encounter Sa Reh, Tu Reh’s best friend, who hates the Burmese more than Tu Reh does because of his mother’s forced labor and death.

The camp leaders convene to decide Chiko’s fate. Reluctant to associate with Chiko but duty-bound to care for him, Tu Reh tells Chiko about the amputation of his leg and advises him about the camp leaders’ upcoming interrogation. Sa Reh spies on them and considers Tu Reh a traitor. Chiko demonstrates his goodwill by incorporating Karenni words into his interrogation responses; although he’s clearly not a threat, the leaders have mixed reactions and hold a community vote.

In the interim, Tu Reh helps Ree Meh and her family settle into the camp; they return to school, and Tu Reh helps construct their house. Despite his misgivings and internal conflicts between his empathy for Chiko (a Burmese boy) and his Karenni identity, Tu Reh and Chiko slowly become friends. Tu Reh asks the camp teacher to visit Chiko, ostensibly to bring him books but also to encourage him to pursue his teaching dreams (the teacher has a prosthetic leg but remains a skilled educator and open-minded person despite his trauma).

At the community meeting, Tu Reh reveals why he saved Chiko. The grandfather and president support his argument, but Sa Reh and his family want to abandon Chiko in the jungle. Tu Reh unifies the community using the Karenni national anthem; afterward, the general attitude toward Chiko is neutral/positive. They vote to send Chiko to the prosthetic clinic in another camp and then return him to Burma. Tu Reh, despite initial hesitation, loans Chiko his mule and cuts him a new bamboo pole. Chiko’s parting gift to him is a farewell, spoken entirely in Karenni. He promises to raise awareness of the violence against the Karenni.

Chiko narrates the Epilogue. He returns to Yangon with a prosthetic leg. He’s insecure about it and nervous about his family’s reactions; however, his fears are unfounded. They’re overjoyed at his return and don’t mind the leg at all. His crush returns his feelings; Tai and his sister now live with Chiko’s family; and Chiko’s father will soon be returning home. Chiko shares his story and experiences with his loved ones and feels hopeful about the future.