The following collection of thematically related readings is available in So Far From the Bamboo Grove and Related Readings in McDougal Littell's Literature Connections series.

Refugee Mother and Child by Chinua Achebe
(from Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems, © 1973)
Summary: In this poem a simple gesture reveals a mother's abiding love for her doomed child.

Old Man at the Bridge by Ernest Hemingway
from The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, © 1966)
Summary: The narrator of this short story encounters one of the casualties of war: a gentle refugee, dazed, exhausted, and worried about abandoned animals.

Excerpt from The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia by Esther Hautzig, © 1968
Summary: This memoir recalls the experiences of an exiled Polish family whose lives change when the village bum comes to reside with them.

The First Day of the War by Maia Wojciechowska
(from Till the Break of Day)
Summary: In this excerpt from an autobiography, the senseless killing of the narrator's dog introduces her to the horrors of war and the complexities of human conduct.

Generations by Amy Lowell
Summary: Using images from nature, the speaker of this poem explores the relationship between members of different generations.

The Key by Vo Phien
(from Landscape and Exile)
Summary: In this story within a story, a shy refugee from Vietnam reveals the mistake that haunts his life.

Please Don't Leave by Mr. Lue Lee
(from Tales of Courage, Tales of Dreams: A Multicultural Reader, © 1993)
Summary: The speaker of this poem expresses the intense feelings that parting from a loved one stirs.