The Boat Lesson Plan

How does Mai end up on a boat set for Malaysia without her family? How can Mai's journey be considered a coming-of-age story?

One day when Mai came home from selling tobacco to help support her family, her mother handed her a bundle of money. Offering no explanation, her mother told Mai to spend it how she likes but to try to save it. Mai was too shocked to ask any questions. Two days later, Mai's mother sent her to visit her father at the hospital. Unbeknownst to Mai, this was their goodbye; her father told her to obey her mother. The very next day, Mai's mother put her on a bus to a city five hours away. She told Mai that her uncle would meet her in the market...