INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN

Hi, 

I just finished reading the most beautiful book for upper grades and teens. I couldn't wait to share it with you. I can still hear the voice of Ha, feel her happiness and pain. I didn't want  the book to end, and felt sad when I turned the last page, almost like I had to say goodbye to a special friend.  

The book is called: Inside Out and Back again by Thanhha Lai

  

Inside Out and Back Again is a story told through the eyes of Ha, a ten year old Vietnamese girl, who keeps a written log of her year in flux. She and her family embark on a life changing journey, leaving behind all that is familiar for a safer life.

The story opens with Ha and her family celebrating Tet (New Years in Vietnam), the year of the cat. In keeping with tradition, they don new clothes, follow long standing traditions and eat specialty foods, "Sugary lotus seed and glutinous rice cakes."(Pg. 1) 

The time of celebration is also marked by war in Vietnam, their homeland of Saigon under attack. Ha's family is reminded of this daily, her father missing in battle. Ha's memory of him is vague, but for her mother, a fresh face, one she hopes to see again.  

As the war escalates in Saigon, Ha and her family prepare to flee. She must leave behind her most precious possession, her beloved papaya tree, which she nurtured from a sapling. Now aboard a crowded ship, she and her family sail to America.    

Ha's family settles in Alabama. In the beginning they are seen as outsiders, often faced with ridicule and prejudice. Over time, Ha like her family begin to assimilate into American culture, adapting some of the customs, the language, and even sampling foreign foods.    Never do they loose sight of who they are, or their roots, which has enriched their daily lives. 

Inside Out and Back Again is one of those special books I will always treasure. A keepsake, one I will read again.

Happy reading,

bye Rosalyne