Evelyn Vu is one of 1.5 million “boat people” who tried to escape Vietnam. She was one of the lucky ones to succeed. Water All Around, her debut novel, is loosely based on her own memories and experience. Through her book, she hopes others, including children, and the children’s children of immigrants, will come to understand the struggle during this period in history, and how/why so many people end up living in foreign lands. She hopes the novel, and her own personal story, will resonate with those who took similar paths and bring empathy to the plight of refugees.