"The intricacy of the toys was wonderful, but it was nothing compared to the radiance of those children's laughter. I saw these refugees then for what they really were: not the victims of war but its victors. They were the people who had, against all odds, survived, determined to start their lives over again."
Preface, p. ix.

"Had he been killed because he knew how to read and write and had taught the village children their alphabet? Or perhaps because he had gone to catch some snails in the fields for my grandmother to eat because she was sick and dying? I will never know. I knew only that I was not allowed to ask about him, or even cry when I missed him."
Chap. 1, p. 7

"We passed women taking down laundry from lines, children spinning tops near the makeshift shelters, and quiet groups of people sitting around...