The Girl in the Picture - Denise Chong (Scribner non fiction) (November 2007) **** Having rarely read non-fiction for pleasure, I was more than pleasantly surprised to read this moving account of a victim of the Vietnam War, Kim Phuc. The book was lent to me by a friend that heard I was going to be visiting Vietnam. It gave great insight to everyday life in South Vietnam and also the social, political and economical structures during the late 1960's and early 1970's. Kim Phuc was to become the most famous face of the Vietnam War. She was 9 years old when she was severely burned in a napalm attack in her village in South Vietnam and she was photographed running naked away from the attack. The photographer caught her fear and pain and this helped turn public opinion against the war. It's a true account which describes her family and the history that was being made at the time. I loved the quote by her aunt "if you kneel down life is a mountain; if you stand up life is at your feet". It is told as an account in the third person and describes the many years of rehabilitation that followed the attack, which although it was told without emotion it was nevertheless, heartwrenching. It was also interesting to hear how she was manipulated by the ruling authorities as she continued to be of world interest. I also knew nothing about the religion that she was originally born into, Caodai, so that was very interesting. She subsequently changed to Christianity where she received many of the answers to her questions, much to her mother's bitter disappointment. She finally managed to defect to Canada which is where she lives to this day with her husband and children.