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Giving Voice to the Marginalized: An Interview with
Mitali Perkins
By lynmiller-lachmann on 2010-09-19 22:34:48
I just returned from the Peace-ing It Together fair at the Presbyterian-New England Congregational Church in Saratoga
Springs and was pleased to see that many of the attendees were young people, including many college and high school
students. In June, I featured two novels for preteen and teenage readers that encouraged readers to get involved--one in the
students' own communities and the other in spreading awareness of the plight of child soldiers around the world. Mitali
Perkins's Bamboo People depicts teenagers forced to fight against other teenagers at the behest of a brutal dictatorship in
Burma/Myanmar. You may read my review of Bamboo People and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich's 8th Grade Superzero
here. ‘© WToday I am fortunate to present an interview with Mitali Perkins, who talks about her
decision to write about the conflict i in Burma/Myanmar, her research process, and what she hopes young readers will take
away from the novel. Lyn Miller-Lachmann: Why did you decide to write a children’s book about the situation of child
soldiers in Burma? Have you always been interested in the political situation there, or was there a single event that
motivated you to embark on this project? Mitali Perkins: One of my goals as a writer of fiction is to champion marginalized
voices. In this book, I sought to show the plight of two boys caught up in a modern-day war. We lived in Chiang Mai,
Thailand for almost three years and I saw firsthand the effects of the Burmese civil war in the refugee camps along the
border. Tu Reh in my novel is a Karenni who is forced to flee with his family for their lives. It would be easy to believe that
Burmese soldiers are the “bad guys” in this devastating situation—that is, until you discovered that Burma leads the world in
conscripting children to fight. Chiko represents thousands of kids who are forced to fight this horrible war I read that you
worked with Karenni refugees in Thailand and even have on your web site a video of a i young refugee
similar to the Karenni boy Tu Reh. Yet I also loved your portrait of the Burmese child soldier, Chiko, who was such a
complex and appealing character. How did you research his life and come up with his character? I read as widely as I could
about the life of child soldiers in Burma and researched their situation in the news, but mostly relied on my imagination to
create the character of Chiko. I have two sons about his age, so that helped considerably. Tu Reh calls on his Christian faith
to make choices that often put him at odds with the other refugees. While a significant proportion of Karenni people are
Christian—a proportion vastly underestimated in official statistics—the country's dominant faith is Buddhism. Many people
remember the rebellion of the Buddhist monks that the government brutally crushed in 2008. Why does Buddhism play a
lesser role in Chiko’ life, and what role does it play in either opposing or supporting the military dictatorship in
Burma/Myanmar? Excellent question. Buddhism is a religion of peace, so I’m not sure how tyrannical leaders carrying out a
war against their own people claim to be adherents. As for Chiko, although it isn’t explicit in the novel, in my mind he was
more secular at the beginning of the story, skeptical of the supernatural and of belief systems not proven by science. By the
end of the novel, I think he is more open to matters of faith. For teenagers who read Bamboo People, what do you see as the
next step in terms of getting involved to end the military regime in Burma/Myanmar? Find out if your elected representatives
have taken a stand on Burma. If not, write a letter to him/her to express your outrage at the situation. Raise money to give
through the organizations I’ve listed at bamboopeople.org. Pray. Read the news about Burma. Find out if Karenni refugees
are arriving anywhere in your area and do your best to help them get settled in this new place—they were finally granted
permission to come here last year. The Hunger Games trilogy, which depicts child soldiers in a dystopic future society, has
proved widely popular with teen readers. Do you feel its popularity has made teens more receptive to books like yours? How
can teachers and parents help young readers make the transition from a fantasy genre to reading about and getting involved
in stopping similar atrocities in the here and now? While reading Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, I couldn’t keep the situation in
Burma out of my mind, which made the books all the more compelling to me. One of the nicest notes I’ve received from a
teen said, "For me, Bamboo People was a meaningful, emotional, make-you-want-to-do-something type of novel. Wouldn’t
it be wonderful if teachers and parents handed Bamboo People to eager Hunger Games readers, inspiring fantasy-lovers like
me to affect change in the real world?" Great idea, Lyn, and thanks for hosting me at the Times-Union. Thank you, Mitali
Perkins, for your thoughtful answers. Next week, I'll offer my reflections on the Hunger Games trilogy and how it relates to real-life portrayals of
dictatorial regimes, child soldiers, media censorship and manipulation, and the psychological effects of torture and violence.
