Written on the heels of this book is its sequel A Long Way from Home, which follows Kien, Mai, and Loc as they adjust to a strange new life in America under the sponsorship of a member of the Camelot's crew. Mai and Loc adjust well to their new American family and community life. But Kien, again a loner and misfit, runs away in hope of finding his own place. Life among other Vietnamese refugees in California is as challenging for him—albeit in a different way—as life on the open sea. Kien discovers once again that he can become an integrated person only if he forgets himself.