The Yang Warriors are a group of young Hmong children (the eldest is ten, the youngest, five) in a Thai refugee camp. Inspired by the superheroes they see on TV, they begin to train under tiny Master Me, the author’s ten-year-old cousin, who was elected group leader because he “cared the most and believed the fiercest that the children were powerful warriors.” Their rigorous training involves such things as balancing stones on their heads, fighting with sticks as sacred swords, and practicing mind control. Thao’s sweeping vistas show the children from a distance, looking for all the world like children at play, and it soon becomes clear why that is: The story is being told from the point of view of a very young girl who’s not in the group but whose older sister is a warrior. From her she learns that the warriors, seeing how hungry the youngest children are, have planned a nighttime mission to go to the camp outskirts to forage for greens. It’s a dangerous mission—everyone has seen adults punished by the guards for crossing the camp border. This unusual, original story is filled with dramatic tension and has a deeply satisfying conclusion. (Ages 5-8)