This novel for young adults is set during the mid-1970s in Cambodia, during a period when the country was ruled by the Khmer Rouge, a Communist dictatorship. It tells the story of a young girl and her family, innocent civilians caught up in a war being fought between that dictatorship and outside governments trying to remove it from power. As the narrative recounts the hardships that Dara and her family encounter as they struggle to stay together and to survive, the novel explores themes of self-confidence and the nature of family.