In this article, the author interviews Minfong Ho, an award-winning Thai writer of children's and young adult novels. Ho was born in Burma to Chinese parents in 1951, raised in Singapore and Thailand, educated in Bangkok, Taiwan, and at Cornell University in New York. Ho's first novel, "Sing to the Dawn," won first prize from the Council of Interracial Books for Children, and another novel, "Rice without Rain," was recognized by the American Library Association as a Best Books for Young Adults and as a "Booklist" Editor's Choice. From strong female characters surviving in politically turbulent times to the realizations of two brothers' spiritual destiny's, Ho's works prove to be powerful, insightful, and timeless. By threading the themes of love, courage, and family through her stories, Ho carefully guides readers through such difficult subjects as poverty and violence. Ho's novels provide unparalleled insight into the culture of Southeast Asia. In the interview, Ho discusses what it means to be a "Third Culture Kid," responses she has received from children about her novels, her experiences that helped shape her characters, her views about politics in Cambodia now compared to the time she wrote about it, what she wants American children to know about the cultures represented in her novels, and her different approaches to writing picture books, short stories, and novels. The article concludes by stating that Ho's works are not only insightful, but are politically and socially necessary, and the strengths, struggles, and survival skills of the Southeast Asian child are dramatically told.