Book Report In English

Submitted by Mark Joseph P. Punzalan January 13, 2014

Introduction Title: A Million Shades of Grey Author: Cynthia Kadohata

-born in Chicago, Illinois, The United States January 01, 1956 -genderfemale -websitehttp://www.kira-kira.us/ Cynthia Kadohata is a Japanese American writer known for writing coming of age stories about Asian American women. She spent her early childhood in the South; both her first adult novel and first children's novel take place in Southern states. Her first adult novel was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her first children's book, Kira-Kira, won the 2005 Newbery Medal. Her first published short story appeared in The New Yorker in 1986.

Genre: Adventure and Drama

YTin wanted to be like his dad. He is in the Special Forces with U.S. troops. YTin becomes a confident tracker and soon proves to his dad that he is a strong enough tracker and comes with his dad on one of the missions. He also wants to be a better brother. To be a better brother he has to spend more time with his sisters and help them if they are in need. Caring more about HJauih and Jujubee is another thing that would help him to be a better brother. In the beginning, he wants to be an elephant handler. His friends say that he is too young to be one, and every day he tries and tries to improve. In the end, his friends realize that they were wrong that he is not too young. As you can see, Cynthia Kadohata showed many themes in her novel.

Body
Time and Setting:
In many ways, Cynthia Kadohata showed the setting, and here are some examples. North Vietnamese soldiers took people hostage in the time of the Vietnam War. The North and the South disliked each other in many different ways. The North thought they could win the war with more recruited soldiers. Another thing was that all the Vietnamese people had elephants and trained the elephants. Elephants were common during this time period. These Elephants helped the troops transport from one place to another. Sometimes the elephants could protect the villagers from getting captured by the North Vietnamese soldiers. Lastly, the men of the villages going off to the war are another example of the setting. South Vietnam needed more troops to help defeat the North. Men from villages were recruited during their everyday lives. Families were sad because their family members had to leave their wives and kids.

Characters: YTin Eban - Thirteen-year-old YTin Eban is one brave kid. YTin
Eban is one of the youngest elephant handler there is. Being an elephant handler brings responsibility and bravery. An elephant handler could get hurt in many ways such as he could get trampled on by his elephants, or he could fall off the elephant and fall right to the ground. In the end, though, he becomes a very well elephant handler. He is also a tracker in the jungle. He is very courageous because he could get killed by the North Vietnamese soldiers with the war going on. YTin could lead his father and the South Vietnamese forces to all get captured by the North. One of his friends, YJuen, gets sick in the jungle and YTin has to save him before its too late. YTin took some risks when he was bringing his sick friend back home to his village. He could have gotten shot, he could have gotten in a lot of trouble because he left his village, and his friend would have died. YTin Eban is one of the bravest 13-year-old elephant handlers, trackers, and friends anyone could meet.

Plot
One thing is the Vietnam War with the North against the South. People left their families to go off to the war and finally bring peace between the North and the South. Also, families got taken hostage by the North Vietnamese soldiers. This was the Norths way of bringing the South Vietnamese to the North Vietnamese. A lot of people died during this time period. The climax of this novel is when YTins elephant Lady, gets pregnant. After a while, Lady gives birth and YTin names the baby Mtu. YTin takes care of it until it is strong

enough to be on its own with its mom in the jungle. When he realizes Mtu is strong enough, he is forced to set Lady and Mtu free into the jungle.

Conflict
When I was reading A Million Shades of Gray, I discovered many conflicts. YSiu, YTins friend, gets shot when everyone in his village gets taken hostage by the North. YTin is scared when his friend gets shot because he is thinking that he might get shot, also. Also, he is scared because he cannot do anything about his friends death but sit there and feel pain. The worst part, however, the North Vietnamese soldiers make YTin and the other villagers dig up a hole for all the dead bodies. Another conflict is the North Vietnamese vs. the South Vietnamese. The North and South fought in a war for quite a while. North Vietnam took villagers hostage because the North needed more people to win so the North thought the villagers would help. One more conflict was between YTin and YJuen. YTin and YJuen fight a lot because they want to see who the better tracker among YTin and YJuens friends. In the end, YTin puts his bravery to the test by saving YJuen. The conflicts in A Million Shades of Gray made the whole thing a little bit more interesting.

Historical Background
The Vietnam War, also known as the American War in Vietnam, was from 1959-1975. In 1954, the United States took Frances spot in the Vietnam War. In 1960, Communist sympathizers in South Vietnam established the National Liberation Front, also known as the Viet Cong to use guerilla warfare against the South Vietnamese.President Johnson's goal for U.S. involvement in Vietnam was not for the U.S. to win the war, but for U.S. troops to support the South Vietnameses defenses until South Vietnam could take over. U.S. troops fought a jungle war; mostly against the wellsupplied Viet Cong. U.S. soldiers commonly became frustrated with the

fighting conditions in Vietnam. Many suffered from low morale, became depressed, and some even used drugs.

Conclusion
Before reading A Million Shades of Grey, I didn't really know a lot about the Vietnam War. I didn't know the politics or reasoning behind it, or the extent of the horrors that people experienced. Kadohata ended up giving me a history lesson of sorts, and for that reason alone, I'm glad I read this book.

Y'Tin's tale is one of bravery and hope, and is as much a coming of age story as it is an adventure. Nothing makes a boy grow up like being in the middle of a war and, as horrific as it is, the whole experience undoubtedly makes Y'Tin become a man. His beloved elephant, Lady, is an important part of his life, and is a constant companion to him and his family. Their bond is strong and unwavering, and is the kind that you enviously read about or see depicted in films. I never knew elephants could be so close to humans, which again just shows how much I know about this way of life.

The pace of this book is quite slow and steady, with a lot of character building and scene setting. I wanted it to speed up and get going, and make me unable to put it down. It didn't do that, but it did hold my interest plot-wise. I was fascinated by the conflict between North and South Vietnam, and by the differences in the various tribes. I like the fact that the elephants teeth grind down and they grow more!

Its complete with historical elements, strong characters and an animal that you'll fall in love with.. As well as being good for educational purposes, it's also a lesson in humanity, and what it means to survive.

Source: Bibliography:
Mintz, S. (2007). Learn about the Vietnam War. Digital History. Retrieved 1/6/12 from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu