Inside out and back again by ThanhHa Lai

By one life, live it
my little daughter recommends "Mẹ, this book is so good.  You might find something related."


Inside Out & Back Again is a verse novel by Thanhha Lai.  The book was awarded the 2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and one of the two Newbery Honors. Wikipedia 

From the author's childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama, this novel is the child's-eye view of family and immigration. 

Based on the author's own childhood and written in free-verse poems, this unforgettable story captures a fierce girl's struggles to find her place in her family, in her new home, and in the world.
Things are changing in Hà's world, as the Vietnam War comes closer and closer to her home in Saigon.

When Saigon falls in 1975, Hà and her family are forced to flee on a navy ship and, after spending months in refugee camps, end up moving to Alabama. There, Hà struggles to deal with everything from learning the language and customs to handling the bullies who make fun of her at school. Will she ever feel at home in this strange new land? And will she ever see her father again?
No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

"For all the ten years of her life, Hà has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.
But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

 This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next."  (HapperCollins Publishers)

To the millions of refugees in the world, may you each find a home

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

my home village

By one life, live it
Image
That was Long Ho village, an old village on the bank of Huong river - just a few miles from Hue, a lovely village with a peaceful life. When I was a little girl I came there often. Many years have passed, so many things have changed but the dream-like memory of that small village is still vividly in my heart and the warm atmosphere of the evening there seep into my mind each time I feel tired of the urban life in Saigon city. Every evening, when the sun had just set behind Ngu Binh hills, all around us we could see the farmers walking home from the fields, tired after a long day of hard work. Some dogs were running toward their owners, wagging their tails and barking happily. The buffalos which had pulled plows along with the farmers during the hot day passed us on the way to the stables. High a top of one buffalo a boy play a lazy song with his bamboo flute as the animal slowly plodded onward. Far away, some cows were chewing the fresh grass. Here and there, kids were flying kites..
Read more

Echeveria Lola

By one life, live it
Image
2016 Echeveria 'Lola', possibly a hybrid of Echeveria lilacina, forms a sculpted rosette with a somewhat "rosebud" shape. Leaves are alabaster marble with a delicate blush of pinkish violet and tipped with rose. Rosette gives the impression of alabaster wax suffused with violet. Flowers are peach, bell-shaped and appear in spring.  2019 In habitat, many Echeverias grow on rocky outcroppings at higher altitudes. In this habitat, the water drains quickly away from the roots of the plant, never allowing the plant to remain waterlogged. For this reason, it is essential in cultivation to use a very porous soil, which will allow quick drainage. If Echeverias (or any other succulents don’t get enough ) sunlight they begin to stretch out ,  the plant start to turn and bend toward the light source. Then as it continues to grow it will get taller with more space between the leaves.  Bright light is required to prevent "stretching" o
Read more

Yesterdays

By
Image
My father and my mother were both born and grew up in Hue, a small town in the middle of Vietnam. Hue is a small town but they did not meet there until they were both in Saigon, some years later, where my father had come to study law and mom was deep into the study of philosophy. At that time they didn't have much chance of a courtship as students, but they became friends. Life moved forward and they both went their separate ways only to meet again in Quảng Tín, a small town near Hội An in the middle of VN. By that time, my father was a government official and my mother was teaching high school. They became reacquainted and as it happened, they fell in love. They returned to their traditional family home of Huế to marry in 1964 and by February, 1965 their first born daughter had arrived, a cute baby, me, hehe. Tam Kỳ 1965 Soon after I was born, my father was drafted into the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (normally called the South Vietnam Army). My mother quit he
Read more