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 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

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"

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'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:

Chapter Eight:

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 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

Dawan went to see the old monk

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

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

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

~End~