about the book
What if war came to your home and you had to pack up everything and leave?
Ten-year-old Hà loves her home in Saigon, South Vietnam. She loves the smells, the food, the friendliness of the people, the amazing life of the markets, the traditions. She especially loves the beautiful papaya tree in her yard that she calls her very own.
But the Vietnam War has reached Saigon. The city is about to fall to the North Vietnamese. Hà and her family are forced to flee on a big ship towards America’s promise of hope. In Alabama, Hà is introduced to a very different kind of home. The people are cold. The food is dull. Even its landscape is weird compared to her beautiful Vietnam.
But in Alabama Hà learns about another thing: strength—the strength of her family in times of trouble, and the strength of herself when changing from one life to the next.
about the author
Thanhha Lai was born in Vietnam in 1965, the Year of the Snake on the Vietnam calendar. She remembers life being very good in Saigon: she loved school, got the best grades in her class, ate tons of snacks, and was the youngest in a family of nine children.
When the North communist Vietcong invaded Saigon, Thanhha and her large family of ten fled the country on a U.S. Naval ship. They ended up in Montgomery Alabama, unable to speak English and the only Asians in their community. . After that, her life reflects the life of Hà in Inside Out and Back Again. She learned English gradually, and was even introduced to hot dogs. The family eventually settled in Texas.
Thanhha graduated from the University of Texas and earned a master’s in Creative writing from the New York University. She now teaches at The New School in New York City and gives herself at least fifteen hours a week in order to write fiction.
Every night, after her daughter goes to bed, Thanhha tries to read a novel. A whole novel. It would seem she has mastered the English language pretty well.
Source:
Author biography : Wikipedia
Author page : Goodreads
Also by Thanhha Lai,
Listen, Slowly. Harper Collins. February 2015.
read more!
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
Kek, a Sudanese refugee sent to Minneapolis to live with his aunt and cousin, struggles to adjust to his new life as he mourns for what he has lost on his journey. He finally makes some friends and finds a job caring for an elderly woman’s cow. When he learns that the farm where he works is going to be sold, Kek must figure out a way to save the cow and himself.
Saving Kabul Corner by N.H. Senzai
Ariana is worlds apart from her proper Afghan cousin Laila, who just moved into their California home. Ariana is a tomboy; Laila cooks, sews, and sings. When a rival Afghan grocery store opens in their town, Laila and Ariana fall on opposite sides of an ancient feud, only to realize that they might be the only ones to end it.
Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff
Lidie lives in Brazil, where she is free to ride and be a wild girl, but when she turns twelve, she leaves Brazil for New York to live with her father and her older brother. She proves herself as a strong, young rider when she rides Wild Girl, the filly her father has just purchased for his race track.