REVIEWS
School Library Journal Review
Maggie Knapp
Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX
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Mai (though at school in Laguna Beach she’s known as “Mia”) is a seventh grade valley girl who is expected to accompany her grandmother on an all-summer visit to Vietnam. Bà fled Vietnam with her children during the Fall of Saigon, and doesn’t know what happened to her husband, Mai’s grandfather. Occasionally using her rudimentary Vietnamese, Mai tells the story (grudgingly adding SAT vocabulary sent daily by her mother) as she frets over her oily T-zone, her crush back home, bloodthirsty mosquitoes, and OMG: only dial-up Internet! At the same time, Mai revels in the sights and tastes of crowded cities and rural villages, eventually embracing even awkward traditions as she comes to appreciate her heritage. Narrator Lulu Lam beautifully manages both the ending uptick of valley-girl inflections, and the tonal variations of Vietnamese. The writing is excellent, and the narration rises in every way to the material. This book has abundant educational points that make it good for classroom use, yet it never feels heavy-handed as it explores the cultural points. Funny, heartfelt and full of depth, this modern narrative is seamlessly wrapped in a lush cloak of history and culture. Mai and Bà’s journey will captivate listeners. VERDICT An excellent multicultural title for social studies or history classes. Suggest to fans of authors Mitali Perkins and Lisa Yee.
Kirkus Review
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An enlightening, poignant and unexpectedly funny novel in verse is rooted in the author's childhood experiences. In Saigon in 1975, 10-year-old Kim Hà celebrates Tet (New Year) with her mother and three older brothers; none of them guesses at the changes the Year of the Cat will bring. (Hà’s father’s been MIA from the South Vietnamese Navy for nine years.) On the eve of the fall of Saigon, they finally decide they must escape. Free verse poems of, usually, just two to three pages tell the story. With the help of a friend, the family leaves, and they find themselves trapped at sea awaiting rescue. Only one of her brothers speaks English, but they pick America as their destination and eventually find a sponsor in Alabama. Even amid the heartbreak, the narrative is shot through with humor. Hà misunderstands much about her new home: Surely their sponsor, who always wears his cowboy hat, must have a horse somewhere. In a school full of strangers and bullies, she struggles to learn a language full of snake’s hissing and must accept that she can no longer be at the head of her class…for now. In her not-to-be-missed debut, Lai evokes a distinct time and place and presents a complex, realistic heroine whom readers will recognize, even if they haven’t found themselves in a strange new country.
Once Knew
Water, water, water
everywhere
making me think
land is just something
I once knew
like napping on a hammock
bathing without salt
watching Mother write
laughing for no reason
kicking up powdery dirt
and wearing clean nightclothes
smelling of the sun.
May 12
Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out and Back Again (p. 236). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.