A Long Way from Home is the sequel to A Boat to Nowhere. The two books were published in the same year, and critics were at first tempted to treat the two books as if they were one story.

The perspective from the passage of time shows that the books are significantly different, sharing some characters but few themes in common. A Boat to Nowhere is the heroic tale of the efforts of a small band of Vietnamese to escape from the corruption and tyranny that has made life in their native land intolerable. The main characters overcome both natural and human obstacles, finding the best in themselves as they do, and they are eventually saved by the kindness of another human being. As the sequel, A Long Way from Home naturally enough describes what happens to the Vietnamese once they reach America, focusing on alltoo-real...