My Faraway Home

About this book

"When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and simultaneously attacked the Philippines, eight-year-old Mary McKay, her parents, and several other American families working on Mindanao fled into the jungle for what they thought would be a short evacuation until they could be rescued by the Navy. Their wait lasted two years.". "This memoir tells the story of how they survived. The refugees encountered typhoons, fires, and cobras; they lived on dwindling stores of canned food, traded with Filipino villagers who wouldn't betray their hideout, and learned to improvise their own shoes (from rubber tires), soap (from pig fat), and other necessities. My Faraway Home's narrative follows the young, observant Mary as she becomes conscious of the strained relationship between her father, who was a resourceful but stern engineer, and her spirited, artistic mother. She begins to perceive the social politics and prejudices that exist in the Islands, survives a sexual assault, and adapts to her new world. Amidst frayed tempers and anxious waiting come occasional simple joys - a Fourth of July feast, nighttime card games, a pet goldfish in a glass jar - as the refugees recreate "normal" life in the jungle. Maynard also describes their escape on a submarine dodging enemy torpedoes, and recounts how her teenaged brother, away in boarding school when the Japanese invaded, survived a prison camp and the bombing of Manila."--BOOK JACKET.