Sing To The Dawn - Minfong Ho (Synopsis)

Chapter One:

Dawan and Kwai sat on the rickety old bridge above the river

Dawan asked Kwai what would he do if he got the scholarship

Dawan felt that she would not get the scholarship because she is a girl, instead Kwai
might get the scholarship

Talked about how unfair it is that the sacks of rice stacked up beneath the house is for the
tax collector

Their parents thought that it was foolish and wasteful to send girls to school

Chapter Two:

Teacher asked students what they saw beneath their house in the morning

Had a long discussion with the students about the landlord taking away sacks of rice
beneath their houses

A student spotted the headmaster heading to their class and the student shouted "he's
coming"

Teacher and student immediately pretended that they are having Geography lessons until
the headmaster went away

Teacher and student discussed what they should do if they won the scholarship

Teacher announced that Dawan won the scholarship

Chapter Three:

Classmates surrounded Dawan as soon as they heard that she won the scholarship

Kwai was unhappy and sad that Dawan won the scholarship instead of him

Dawan told her family that she got the scholarship and that made her parents angry. Her
father was especially angry and said that she took her own brother's chance away from
him.

Dawan's grandmother however supported her

Dawan and her grandmother headed to Noi's house and halfway, Dawan's mother decided
to go with Dawan instead of her grandmother

Chapter Four:

Noi said that going to the city was useless

Army officer made deal with Noi's family in order not to bring Ghan to the army

Chapter Five:

Kwai realised that Noi and Ghan do not support Dawan in going to the city

Kwai came in second in the examination

If Dawan does not go to the city, Kwai gets to go instead of her

Chapter Six:

Dawan's father didn't want her to go to the city

Kwai asked his father if he had won the scholarship, would he allow him to go to the city

Kwai's dad thought that boys going to the city to futher his studies would be better than
girls

Chapter Seven:

Dawan went to the marketplace alone and met a girl that sells lotus bud and caged
sparrows

Dawan realised that the girl, Bao, was the sister of her classmate

Chapter Eight:

Dawan went to see the old monk

Dawan's teacher and the old monk are good friends

Old monk does not really see why Dawan should go to the city school

Chapter Nine:

Bao allowed Dawan to free a bird for free

Bao's brother, Vichai, came to the market stall and hit her because she freed a bird for
free

Kwai stopped Vichai from hitting Bao

After realising that Bao knew about what happened between Dawan and Kwai, Kwai
wanted to slap Bao

Kwai pushed Dawan away when she tried to stop Kwai, unfortunately she landed on top
of a pile of broken bird cages, injuring herself

Cousin Noi helped Dawan with her wound

Chapter Ten:

Dawan and Kwai were at the river

Kwai was thinking about Dawan's words, about him being a bully

Dawan passed Kwai her umbrella caringly as it was raining

Kwai made a decision

Chapter Eleven:

Kwai's father heard from his teacher that he got second in the test and was angry at Kwai
for not telling him so

Father spoke to both Kwai and Dawan together

Father was very reluctant and unconvinced that Dawan should go to the city school

After much persuasion from Dawan and Kwai, father finally allowed Dawan to go to the
city school

Chapter Twelve:

Kwai will miss Dawan once she goes to the city school, no one will be there to watch the
sunrise with him

Chapter Thirteen:

At first Dawan was unsure if she wanted to leave as she will miss everything in her
village

After her grandmother talked to Dawan, she decided to go

When she was boarding the bus to go to the city, Kwai was nowhere to be seen

Although many people in the village sent her off, she was not happy as Kwai was not
there

During the bus journey, she saw Kwai on the bridge that they usually went to, he was
waving at her. Bidding goodbye