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A Year Without Home
A poignant novel in verse about a Hmong girl losing and finding home in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. For fans of Jasmine Warga and Veera Hiranandani.
"As gripping as it is informative and as beautiful as it is heartbreaking, A Year Without Home does what all great books spark curiosity, ignite compassion, and leave its readers changed for the better. The young people who read V.T. Bidania's story will feel energized and empowered to make their future kinder, more peaceful, and more just than either the past or our present."—Jarrett Lerner, award-winning author-illustrator of A Work in Progress
For eleven-year-old Gao Sheng, home is the lush, humid jungles and highlands of Laos. Home is where she can roll down the grassy hill with her younger siblings after her chores, walk to school, and pick ripe peaches from her family’s trees.
But home becomes impossible to hold onto when the communist government takes over after U.S. troops pull out of the Vietnam War. The communists will be searching for any American allies, like Gao Sheng’s father, a Hmong captain in the Lao Army who fought alongside the Americans against the Vietnamese. If he’s caught, he’ll be killed.
As the adults frantically make plans – contacting family, preparing a route, and bundling up their silver and gold, Gao Sheng wonders if she will ever return to her beloved Laos and what’s to become of her family now. Gao Sheng only knows that a good daughter doesn’t ask questions or complain. A good daughter doesn’t let her family down. Even though sometimes, she wishes she could be just a kid rolling down a grassy hill again.
On foot, by taxi and finally in a canoe, Gao Sheng and her family make haste from the mountains to the capitol Vientiane and across the rushing Mekong River, to finally arrive at an overcrowded refugee camp in Thailand. As a year passes at the camp, Gao Sheng discovers how to rebuild home no matter where she is and finally find her voice.
Inspired by author V.T. Bidania’s family history, A Year Without Home illuminates the long, difficult journey that many Hmong refugees faced after the Vietnam War.
"As gripping as it is informative and as beautiful as it is heartbreaking, A Year Without Home does what all great books spark curiosity, ignite compassion, and leave its readers changed for the better. The young people who read V.T. Bidania's story will feel energized and empowered to make their future kinder, more peaceful, and more just than either the past or our present."—Jarrett Lerner, award-winning author-illustrator of A Work in Progress
For eleven-year-old Gao Sheng, home is the lush, humid jungles and highlands of Laos. Home is where she can roll down the grassy hill with her younger siblings after her chores, walk to school, and pick ripe peaches from her family’s trees.
But home becomes impossible to hold onto when the communist government takes over after U.S. troops pull out of the Vietnam War. The communists will be searching for any American allies, like Gao Sheng’s father, a Hmong captain in the Lao Army who fought alongside the Americans against the Vietnamese. If he’s caught, he’ll be killed.
As the adults frantically make plans – contacting family, preparing a route, and bundling up their silver and gold, Gao Sheng wonders if she will ever return to her beloved Laos and what’s to become of her family now. Gao Sheng only knows that a good daughter doesn’t ask questions or complain. A good daughter doesn’t let her family down. Even though sometimes, she wishes she could be just a kid rolling down a grassy hill again.
On foot, by taxi and finally in a canoe, Gao Sheng and her family make haste from the mountains to the capitol Vientiane and across the rushing Mekong River, to finally arrive at an overcrowded refugee camp in Thailand. As a year passes at the camp, Gao Sheng discovers how to rebuild home no matter where she is and finally find her voice.
Inspired by author V.T. Bidania’s family history, A Year Without Home illuminates the long, difficult journey that many Hmong refugees faced after the Vietnam War.
431 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 173 reviews
January 16, 2026
What a massively powerful read about the experiences of the Hmong community. CW: descriptions of violence due to war, death (not on page), displacement from home
What Worked: I believe this is only the second children's book that I've read in my career as a librarian with Hmong representation. The first was The Rock in my Throat by Kao Kalia Yang, a picture book that focused on life of a Hmong refugee child navigating life in the United States. A Year Without Home is a little different in that it showcases what happened post the Vietnam War in Laos that forced so many Hmong people from their homes. Though this book is told from the perspective of V.T. Bidania's sisters experience (she was too young to remember when they left Laos), it is clear that she did a lot of research and conducted a lot of interviews to capture the feelings both positive and negative of the experience of her family and so many others. Historical fiction, for me, is a gateway to assist young and old readers in learning more about the world around them and how the past continuously informs the present. I knew about the Vietnam war and the involvement of the United States; however, I knew nothing about its lasting impact on Laos and the Hmong community. Bidania beautifully crafts all of this into the experiences of Gao Sheng as she loses her home and attempts to break the traditional gender roles enforced by her family and community. It's enlightening, devasting and an important novel to give to young readers so that they can connect with what the experiences of other children around the globe.
What Didn't Work: I almost think that this book could have been benefited from not being written in verse. There are a lot of moving parts to the story and I wanted a little more detail than what was provided.
Overall, this was a thoughtful, powerful novel that I will be recommending as a necessary middle grade historical fiction read.
What Worked: I believe this is only the second children's book that I've read in my career as a librarian with Hmong representation. The first was The Rock in my Throat by Kao Kalia Yang, a picture book that focused on life of a Hmong refugee child navigating life in the United States. A Year Without Home is a little different in that it showcases what happened post the Vietnam War in Laos that forced so many Hmong people from their homes. Though this book is told from the perspective of V.T. Bidania's sisters experience (she was too young to remember when they left Laos), it is clear that she did a lot of research and conducted a lot of interviews to capture the feelings both positive and negative of the experience of her family and so many others. Historical fiction, for me, is a gateway to assist young and old readers in learning more about the world around them and how the past continuously informs the present. I knew about the Vietnam war and the involvement of the United States; however, I knew nothing about its lasting impact on Laos and the Hmong community. Bidania beautifully crafts all of this into the experiences of Gao Sheng as she loses her home and attempts to break the traditional gender roles enforced by her family and community. It's enlightening, devasting and an important novel to give to young readers so that they can connect with what the experiences of other children around the globe.
What Didn't Work: I almost think that this book could have been benefited from not being written in verse. There are a lot of moving parts to the story and I wanted a little more detail than what was provided.
Overall, this was a thoughtful, powerful novel that I will be recommending as a necessary middle grade historical fiction read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
DNF @ p256
Pre-Read Notes:
I was tempted by the cover and title here! One of the things I love about choosing by cover and/or title is that I sometimes find myself falling in love with a book I ordinarily wouldn't read--like this one! But it's form is charming, a book in verse, organized into hundreds of poems with their own titles that come together to create this beautiful experimental novel. *edit I sort of struggled with the form here, as it turns out. Hundreds of poems are exhausting to read, even if there is a narrative through line.
Thank you to V T Bidania, Nancy Paulson Books, and NetGalley for an accessible digital copy of A YEAR WITHOUT HOME. All views are mine.
Pre-Read Notes:
I was tempted by the cover and title here! One of the things I love about choosing by cover and/or title is that I sometimes find myself falling in love with a book I ordinarily wouldn't read--like this one! But it's form is charming, a book in verse, organized into hundreds of poems with their own titles that come together to create this beautiful experimental novel. *edit I sort of struggled with the form here, as it turns out. Hundreds of poems are exhausting to read, even if there is a narrative through line.
Thank you to V T Bidania, Nancy Paulson Books, and NetGalley for an accessible digital copy of A YEAR WITHOUT HOME. All views are mine.
August 25, 2026
I can't get over all the history I am learning from the wonderful middle grade novels that I've been reading recently. This book is about an 11-year-old Hmong girl and her family who are living in Laos in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. It's based on the author's family's own experience as they fled Laos when the communists came in search of people who had supported the US. It's heartbreaking (losing their home and living as refugees) but also inspirational and definitely informative. I knew little of the Hmong people and culture and nothing of the 'Secret War' in Laos which was a covert (because Laos was officially declared a neutral country) CIA led military campaign at the time of the Vietnam War. Laos ended up being the most heavily bombed country to date. I'm so glad I read this book and lucky students these days to have so many wonderful books from which to learn about real history.
July 26, 2025
This middle grade novel in verse is inspired by the author’s own family history. I read an advanced reader copy and was deeply moved by its honesty and beauty.
The main character, Gao Sheng, is the eldest daughter in a large extended family living together in a house atop a hill in Laos. With her role come many responsibilities, from preparing meals to caring for younger siblings and cousins.
“This is what’s expected
of the oldest daughter,
which means
I don’t really have a choice.
But I would never say that
out loud
to anyone
ever.
Even though it’s true.”
Gao Sheng loves her home—especially her treasured peach tree and the peace she feels at the top of the hill, away from the turmoil around her.
“Whenever I stand at this special spot
On top of this special hill,
I’m so happy I don’t think
About the war at all.”
But when the communist government takes over, her family is forced to leave everything behind and flee as refugees.
“What if we don’t come back?
I don’t know.
What if we never find another place like this?
What he means is
another place
like home.”
This beautiful book honors Bidania’s family, the Hmong people, and all refugees across the world. Looking forward to sharing this book with students, teachers, and librarians.
This powerful and lyrical book honors V.T. Bidania’s family story, the resilience of the Hmong people, and the experiences of refugees worldwide. I look forward to sharing it with students, teachers, and librarians. Expected release date is January 2026.
The main character, Gao Sheng, is the eldest daughter in a large extended family living together in a house atop a hill in Laos. With her role come many responsibilities, from preparing meals to caring for younger siblings and cousins.
“This is what’s expected
of the oldest daughter,
which means
I don’t really have a choice.
But I would never say that
out loud
to anyone
ever.
Even though it’s true.”
Gao Sheng loves her home—especially her treasured peach tree and the peace she feels at the top of the hill, away from the turmoil around her.
“Whenever I stand at this special spot
On top of this special hill,
I’m so happy I don’t think
About the war at all.”
But when the communist government takes over, her family is forced to leave everything behind and flee as refugees.
“What if we don’t come back?
I don’t know.
What if we never find another place like this?
What he means is
another place
like home.”
This beautiful book honors Bidania’s family, the Hmong people, and all refugees across the world. Looking forward to sharing this book with students, teachers, and librarians.
This powerful and lyrical book honors V.T. Bidania’s family story, the resilience of the Hmong people, and the experiences of refugees worldwide. I look forward to sharing it with students, teachers, and librarians. Expected release date is January 2026.
November 9, 2025
At 11 years old, Gao Sheng and her family is forced to flee her beloved home in Laos when the threat by the newly installed Communist government and against the Hmong people who sided with America during the Vietnam War becomes too great to risk staying. Their flight is filled with risk at every turn and even when safely in Thailand, the year long stay in two refugee camps is filled with hunger, poor food and sanitary conditions, a sense of hopelessness and an intense longing for the home left behind. Amid all this, Gao Sheng struggles to find her own identity while enmeshed in a culture that typically relegates females to positions of only childcare and household chores and elevates males in the family to superior positions of authority and value.
Told in NIV that flows smoothly with each word carefully selected and nothing superfluous included keeps the reader focused on Gao Sheng’s two goals-finding home and her own sense of self-worth. Author V. T. Bidania spends much time establishing her main character’s love of the large, hilltop house surrounded by peach trees and her feeling of unimportance, both threading through the time spent running to a safe country and waiting in refugee camps until a sponsor agrees to support them as they settle in another country. As Gao’s family learns to work together to make a new home wherever they are, she begins to speak up a bit more and finds new ways to shine, ultimately realizing how much her parents and extended family do, in fact, value her.
Based on Bidania’s family’s real life escape from the threat of the Communist government in Laos, there is an authenticity that rings out and will intrigue and teach readers in grades 4-7 and hopefully often them a new way to look at those seeking home in a new place and opening their eyes to a part of history they may have previously been unaware. Back matter includes photographs of Gao Sheng and her family (Bidania being the youngest child and only a baby when they fled) as well as additional historical notes. Text is free of profanity and sexual content and the violence is kept understated.
Thanks for sharing a print arc, V. T. Bidania and Penguin Kids/Nancy Paulsen Books.
Told in NIV that flows smoothly with each word carefully selected and nothing superfluous included keeps the reader focused on Gao Sheng’s two goals-finding home and her own sense of self-worth. Author V. T. Bidania spends much time establishing her main character’s love of the large, hilltop house surrounded by peach trees and her feeling of unimportance, both threading through the time spent running to a safe country and waiting in refugee camps until a sponsor agrees to support them as they settle in another country. As Gao’s family learns to work together to make a new home wherever they are, she begins to speak up a bit more and finds new ways to shine, ultimately realizing how much her parents and extended family do, in fact, value her.
Based on Bidania’s family’s real life escape from the threat of the Communist government in Laos, there is an authenticity that rings out and will intrigue and teach readers in grades 4-7 and hopefully often them a new way to look at those seeking home in a new place and opening their eyes to a part of history they may have previously been unaware. Back matter includes photographs of Gao Sheng and her family (Bidania being the youngest child and only a baby when they fled) as well as additional historical notes. Text is free of profanity and sexual content and the violence is kept understated.
Thanks for sharing a print arc, V. T. Bidania and Penguin Kids/Nancy Paulsen Books.
October 27, 2025
A Year Without Home gives a unique perspective of what life was like in a refugee camp in Thailand back in 1975. This book really gave me a clear look of what life was like for many refugees back then and probably now too. The story is told in verse and it is very hard to put down.
This book would make a great read aloud for upper elementary and middle school classrooms. The book would be a great addition to social studies lessons for studying the region and the end of the Vietnam War.
There are not many books from the Hmong viewpoint in general, and this book would be a great addition for historical fiction sections.
This book would make a great read aloud for upper elementary and middle school classrooms. The book would be a great addition to social studies lessons for studying the region and the end of the Vietnam War.
There are not many books from the Hmong viewpoint in general, and this book would be a great addition for historical fiction sections.
January 23, 2026
This is an amazing book, based on the author's own family's escape from Laos, their time in refugee camps and their subsequent arrival in the United States.
A novel-in-verse, this is a deeply personal, very poignant, and very important story about what makes "home", and how to survive when you've lost everything.
This is an interesting story as well, as it delves into Laos' involvement with both the USA and with Vietnam [and their war there], and the repercussions for the many that helped the American's fight the war, as well as showing what life can be like in a refugee camp, and what it feels like to finally find a place that is safe and warm and home.
This book will spark many conversations and adults and children alike have a real opportunity to learn what it means to be a refugee and without a home.
Thank you to NetGalley, V.T. Bidania, and Penguin Young Readers Group/Nancy Paulson Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A novel-in-verse, this is a deeply personal, very poignant, and very important story about what makes "home", and how to survive when you've lost everything.
This is an interesting story as well, as it delves into Laos' involvement with both the USA and with Vietnam [and their war there], and the repercussions for the many that helped the American's fight the war, as well as showing what life can be like in a refugee camp, and what it feels like to finally find a place that is safe and warm and home.
This book will spark many conversations and adults and children alike have a real opportunity to learn what it means to be a refugee and without a home.
Thank you to NetGalley, V.T. Bidania, and Penguin Young Readers Group/Nancy Paulson Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 12, 2025
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is beautifully written in verse from the perspective of a young Hmong girl fleeing her home due to war. I loved this reading experience and potentially would have loved it even more had I read it at the age it is aimed at (middle-grade). It is based on the author and her family’s real life experiences of fleeing home. I never usually read the authors notes at the end, but I felt compelled to here.
I would recommend to anyone - I think it may be my favourite historical fiction of the year!
This book is beautifully written in verse from the perspective of a young Hmong girl fleeing her home due to war. I loved this reading experience and potentially would have loved it even more had I read it at the age it is aimed at (middle-grade). It is based on the author and her family’s real life experiences of fleeing home. I never usually read the authors notes at the end, but I felt compelled to here.
I would recommend to anyone - I think it may be my favourite historical fiction of the year!
Read
June 13, 20262026 reads: 131/300
i received an advanced review copy from the publisher as part of a book tour. i am leaving this review voluntarily.
content warnings: war, genocide, misogyny, grief
this novel-in-verse follows a hmong girl who loses and eventually finds home in the aftermath of the vietnam war. normally, i turn to middle grade books and novels-in-verse when i want a quick, light read—and this book was anything but. gao sheng already had some difficulties in life, such as the pressures that come with being the eldest daughter, and her difficulties were, of course, exacerbated when her family had to flee all they had known. learning this was inspired by the author’s own journey made the book so much more emotional to me. i would be interested in reading more from v.t. bidania!
read for the diverse baseline may prompt 2: fiction by a southeast asian author
i received an advanced review copy from the publisher as part of a book tour. i am leaving this review voluntarily.
content warnings: war, genocide, misogyny, grief
this novel-in-verse follows a hmong girl who loses and eventually finds home in the aftermath of the vietnam war. normally, i turn to middle grade books and novels-in-verse when i want a quick, light read—and this book was anything but. gao sheng already had some difficulties in life, such as the pressures that come with being the eldest daughter, and her difficulties were, of course, exacerbated when her family had to flee all they had known. learning this was inspired by the author’s own journey made the book so much more emotional to me. i would be interested in reading more from v.t. bidania!
read for the diverse baseline may prompt 2: fiction by a southeast asian author
February 24, 2026
definite Newbery contender!
February 15, 2026
"I dedicate this book to all refugees who understand they must leave home, but wish they could stay anyway."
This book encapsulates so much, in not so many words (it is written in poetic verses), so well. I was fortunate enough to have been given an ARC of this book by the independent bookstore I work at, and was drawn in by the colors of the cover. And ohmygosh, I wish I would have read and reviewed it prior to its release date on January 13th, 2026. But I will definitely be ordering myself a copy of the finished book, telling everyone I can about it, and may even purchase a few to leave in some Little Free Libraries.
I am not and have never been a refugee or immigrant. I have, however, lost my home during my childhood and found myself able to empathize deeply with Gao Sheng when she dreamt of home, of peach trees, and of pets left behind during the forced evacuation of her family. This was horrible enough for me, let alone losing my entire country, culture, or any of my extended family members and friends. The experience of losing home as a child is one that leaves you in fragments, no matter the circumstance. The verses in this book also struck a chord with me as an older, caretaking sister, who was also raised to be quiet in order to be good, but who was also always encouraged to be an independent thinker.
"Girls and daughters are
just
as
important.
My sisters--and I--are
just
as
important."
The imagery described and the feelings evoked by Bidania's words were beautiful, honest, tender, and haunting. There is fierce love for her family, fear, longing, hope, just rage, apprehension, and great strength.
I took photographs of so many of my favorite pages, so I could go back to them later. By the end, I had tears streaming down my face and found I was reading ahead on the page just to confirm that all of the siblings were reunited with their brother, Yia.
"I think of that rainy night in Laos
when we realized my brother
wasn't with us just as we were
leaving for the Mekong River.
How my heart felt like it stopped.
It felt like I couldn't breathe."
&
"I will know... where is family,
where is home."
I was amazed to read the epilogue and learn that the entire saga was reconstructed from the stories and memories given from Gao Sheng and other relatives to the youngest sister, Round Moon, a.k.a. V.T. Bidania herself. Thank you for writing this book. I will be looking forward to all of your forthcoming works.
This book encapsulates so much, in not so many words (it is written in poetic verses), so well. I was fortunate enough to have been given an ARC of this book by the independent bookstore I work at, and was drawn in by the colors of the cover. And ohmygosh, I wish I would have read and reviewed it prior to its release date on January 13th, 2026. But I will definitely be ordering myself a copy of the finished book, telling everyone I can about it, and may even purchase a few to leave in some Little Free Libraries.
I am not and have never been a refugee or immigrant. I have, however, lost my home during my childhood and found myself able to empathize deeply with Gao Sheng when she dreamt of home, of peach trees, and of pets left behind during the forced evacuation of her family. This was horrible enough for me, let alone losing my entire country, culture, or any of my extended family members and friends. The experience of losing home as a child is one that leaves you in fragments, no matter the circumstance. The verses in this book also struck a chord with me as an older, caretaking sister, who was also raised to be quiet in order to be good, but who was also always encouraged to be an independent thinker.
"Girls and daughters are
just
as
important.
My sisters--and I--are
just
as
important."
The imagery described and the feelings evoked by Bidania's words were beautiful, honest, tender, and haunting. There is fierce love for her family, fear, longing, hope, just rage, apprehension, and great strength.
I took photographs of so many of my favorite pages, so I could go back to them later. By the end, I had tears streaming down my face and found I was reading ahead on the page just to confirm that all of the siblings were reunited with their brother, Yia.
"I think of that rainy night in Laos
when we realized my brother
wasn't with us just as we were
leaving for the Mekong River.
How my heart felt like it stopped.
It felt like I couldn't breathe."
&
"I will know... where is family,
where is home."
I was amazed to read the epilogue and learn that the entire saga was reconstructed from the stories and memories given from Gao Sheng and other relatives to the youngest sister, Round Moon, a.k.a. V.T. Bidania herself. Thank you for writing this book. I will be looking forward to all of your forthcoming works.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2026
Had my first book-related tears-come-to-my-eyes moment of the year with this one!
A Year Without Home is a novel in verse based on the author's family's experience of evacuating their home in Laos after the US troops pull out of the Vietnam War, when the communist forces began looking for American allies, and their year spent as refugees. The thing that I think is most important and interesting about this book is that it takes a very serious, scary event that happened, and puts it in the perspective of a kid. So of course the kid is seeing the effects of the war and hearing what the adults say, but she is also just a kid. She wants to go to school. She feels sad about making and losing friends. She wants her dog, her peach trees, her fun time, and to not have to be a babysitter. That perspective made this story feel all the more real.
I especially appreciate putting a world event into a middle-grade/YA book. The Vietnam War wasn't something I really heard much about until I was in high school, and even then I knew SO little about it, and didn't have the context to think about how it affected the people who actually lived over there, even the "good guys".
In conclusion, I really liked this one!
Thanks to Netgalley and Nancy Paulson Books/Penguin Books for Young Readers for the e-ARC!
A Year Without Home is a novel in verse based on the author's family's experience of evacuating their home in Laos after the US troops pull out of the Vietnam War, when the communist forces began looking for American allies, and their year spent as refugees. The thing that I think is most important and interesting about this book is that it takes a very serious, scary event that happened, and puts it in the perspective of a kid. So of course the kid is seeing the effects of the war and hearing what the adults say, but she is also just a kid. She wants to go to school. She feels sad about making and losing friends. She wants her dog, her peach trees, her fun time, and to not have to be a babysitter. That perspective made this story feel all the more real.
I especially appreciate putting a world event into a middle-grade/YA book. The Vietnam War wasn't something I really heard much about until I was in high school, and even then I knew SO little about it, and didn't have the context to think about how it affected the people who actually lived over there, even the "good guys".
In conclusion, I really liked this one!
Thanks to Netgalley and Nancy Paulson Books/Penguin Books for Young Readers for the e-ARC!
August 19, 2026
This is a vital book for young readers to learn about our immigrant communities and what many of them endured in their native countries to survive at all, and then to escape from communist or authoritarian regimes taking over the control and governing of the country, in so many countries for so many decades.
V. T. Bidania’s poignant “A Year without Home” in exquisitely crafted Cree verse, gives us the story of her oldest sister Gao Sheng and only brother, Yia, and their father and his extended Hmong family, when the communists take over Laos after the Vietnam War, and the Americans tried to aid the families of the Laos soldiers with whom they had fought together with for so long. 11 year old Gao Sheng’s father who had worked with the CIA while serving in the Noble Lao Army had just enough warning to help his family escape Laos.
We need to know there are peace loving people, and kindness and caring. Our immigrants have fled hellacious situations in their homelands, and want to find peace and rebuild their lives again. What better place to start than in the hearts and minds of our children who also Hope for peace, caring and kindness in their own lives.
V. T. Bidania’s poignant “A Year without Home” in exquisitely crafted Cree verse, gives us the story of her oldest sister Gao Sheng and only brother, Yia, and their father and his extended Hmong family, when the communists take over Laos after the Vietnam War, and the Americans tried to aid the families of the Laos soldiers with whom they had fought together with for so long. 11 year old Gao Sheng’s father who had worked with the CIA while serving in the Noble Lao Army had just enough warning to help his family escape Laos.
We need to know there are peace loving people, and kindness and caring. Our immigrants have fled hellacious situations in their homelands, and want to find peace and rebuild their lives again. What better place to start than in the hearts and minds of our children who also Hope for peace, caring and kindness in their own lives.
January 21, 2026
This novel-in-verse is tender, gripping, and incredibly relevant for kids and adults alike. The verse serves the story, not the other the way around--it never becomes precious or overly elaborate. Rather, the authors uses figurative language, rhythm, and spacing to surprise and elucidate, putting us directly in scenes from a young girl's perspective in her homeland of Laos and then in Thailand. The main character is smart, sweet, and spunky. You will cheer for her and learn a lot about what it means to be forced from your home by war--what it means to start over, finding a way to keep and create home wherever you are. There are so many people who need to read this right now. Top recommendation!
October 26, 2025
This NIV memoir will show how war can steal your home away, break your heart and rip families apart. But in the darkest moments, strength, and hope can still be found. The year 2025 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Hmong refugees arriving in the US and yet the state of the world is just as uncertain as before. It reminded me of “Scattered Stars” and many of the books I have read about the Lost Boys. I know it is going to resonate with many students and I hope others will see it as a window book.
March 8, 2026
A moving middle grade novel in verse about a young Hmong girl and her family's escape from their Laos home in the aftermath of the Vietnam war. Great on audio with an excellent sense of place and family. This is sure to educate and inspire young readers to be more empathetic to refugees and immigrants living in their communities. Recommended for fans of authors like Jasmine Warga and Thanhhà Lại.
November 4, 2025
Received an ARC of this book for a review. It was good and tells the harrowing tale of a family’s escape from Loas during the Vietnam War. It’s a novel in verse and has several good thought provoking lines that touched me.
January 5, 2026
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a wonderful and eye opening piece of historical fiction based on the author’s life and her family’s experience as refugees from Laos after the Vietnam War. It was beautifully written.
This was a wonderful and eye opening piece of historical fiction based on the author’s life and her family’s experience as refugees from Laos after the Vietnam War. It was beautifully written.
April 22, 2026
This was another wonderfully told story...I really enjoyed it. Not sure I would call this one a new favorite or one I MUST read again but I would definitely recommend it and I would read it again if the opportunity presented itself.
April 21, 2026
I LOVE a novel in verse. This is a middle grade novel in verse about a family who has to leave their home after the Vietnam War.
The author based it on her own families experience, she was just a baby, and she said she interviewed her family members, and while she did change some things in the timeline, the main character was I believe based in one of her sisters.
This was a beautifully written novel, and I’d recommend it for readers of any age!
Thank you @netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
The author based it on her own families experience, she was just a baby, and she said she interviewed her family members, and while she did change some things in the timeline, the main character was I believe based in one of her sisters.
This was a beautifully written novel, and I’d recommend it for readers of any age!
Thank you @netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
May 5, 2026
A poignant novel in verse about a Hmong girl losing and finding home in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Based on the author's family experience.
July 8, 2026
So good! I loved learning about this difficult page in history. So accessible and so very well written for kids in mind. They can really relate to the characters! Awesome!
October 23, 2025
Beautifully written. Put this on your middle grade classroom shelves.
September 18, 2026
This is an incredible and true look at one family's journey from Laos through refugee camps in Thailand to the Midwest (Eau Claire and St Paul!) United States. This was beautiful and eye opening.
February 20, 2026
A beautifully written novel-in-verse, intended for middle grade children, but also an important read for adults. Refugees who escaped Laos in 1975 and endured a year in Thailand’s refugee camps, the author’s family ended up in my hometown, Sparta, Wisconsin, before moving on to Saint Paul, MN. Unique because of its beautiful prose along with its gripping story.
March 3, 2026
Stellar MG fiction in verse about a Hmong family fleeing Laos at the end of the Vietnam War. We are planning an author visit for my middle school next year, and I’m so excited for my students to get to hear from Bidania about her family’s experiences and her inspiring writing journey.
This book is impeccably written, and so very accessible for all readers. Such an important story of a period in history and a population that is sadly not written about enough.
Source: school library hardcover
This book is impeccably written, and so very accessible for all readers. Such an important story of a period in history and a population that is sadly not written about enough.
Source: school library hardcover
May 23, 2025
This sounds SO GOOD! Can't wait to read!!!
April 11, 2026
Richie’s Picks: A YEAR WITHOUT HOME by V.T. Bidania, Penguin Random House/Nancy Paulsen, January 2026, 432p., ISBN: 978-0-593-69720-7
“The UN education agency, UNESCO, says that the bombing of a primary school during the US and Israeli military attacks on Iran on Saturday constitutes a grave violation of humanitarian law.”
(3/1/26)
"’A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social.” (4/7/26)
“Call it peace or call it treason
Call it love or call it reason
But I ain’t a-marching anymore”
– Phil Ochs (1965)
Candlelight
(May 14, before dawn)
When I wake,
it’s so early,
it feels like
the middle of the night.
A chorus or crickets
trills outside our door.
A noisy river toad
croaks
by the stream.
The smell of incense
floats toward me.
I follow it to the family alter
where Dad stands,
holding incense sticks in his hands.
Ribbons of smoke
curl from the tips of the incense,
sending messages to my grandfather
and our ancestors.
Dad is asking
for their protection and guidance
during our journey.
Like me and everyone else
he’s sad to leave too.
Hurry, Mom says
when she spots me
in the shadows.
I rush back to our room,
lift my sisters from the bed,
help them dress by candlelight.
Yia is already up,
peeking out at the black sky.
He turns to me.
What if we don’t come back?
I don’t know.
What if we never find
another place like this?
What he means is
another place
like home.
But I can’t answer Yia
because I’m asking myself
the very same thing,”
It is now a half-century since the end of the Vietnam War and the subsequent Communist takeover of Laos. Based on her research and the true stories of her family’s experience (which she was too young to remember firsthand), author V.T. Bidania weaves an often close-call, breath-holding tale about a family’s panicked departure from Laos, and time spent in one Thailand refugee camp, and then another one. The story concludes with a joyful reunification in
America.
The tale’s narrator is eleven-year-old firstborn Gao Sheng. She is an enthusiastic scholar, a responsible big sister to her three little sisters, and close to Yia, the one boy among the siblings. Their father was among the Hmong working with the CIA and fighting alongside the Americans in Vietnam and now, in the wake of the Communist takeover, he is a marked man. Leaving behind their home in the northern mountains of Laos, leaving the family dog and horse, the main character’s extended family faces dangers but a group of them make it in one piece to the Nam Phong Refugee Camp in Thailand. The whereabouts of other family members remains a mystery.
It’s tough when a new best friend and her family eventually depart the camp, having been sponsored for resettlement in America; it's even harder when family members are chosen to leave. Gao Sheng’s father has hopes of being able to return home to Laos, but he eventually sees the writing on the wall and they are chosen to travel to a new home in the U.S..
With Trump’s war of choice overshadowing the world, and a mandatory U.S. draft registration set to begin later this year. A YEAR WITHOUT HOME is a seriously relevant, powerful, coming-of-age story for tweens. It reveals the human toll to be paid by innocent people and children, thanks to those leaders of countries, sects, gangs, or whatever, who, for their own reasons, or for no good reason, choose to initiate hostilities and move us all another generation away from the Sixties dream of world peace I embraced in my own tween days,.
A YEAR WITHOUT HOME is a book to embrace.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
“The UN education agency, UNESCO, says that the bombing of a primary school during the US and Israeli military attacks on Iran on Saturday constitutes a grave violation of humanitarian law.”
(3/1/26)
"’A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social.” (4/7/26)
“Call it peace or call it treason
Call it love or call it reason
But I ain’t a-marching anymore”
– Phil Ochs (1965)
Candlelight
(May 14, before dawn)
When I wake,
it’s so early,
it feels like
the middle of the night.
A chorus or crickets
trills outside our door.
A noisy river toad
croaks
by the stream.
The smell of incense
floats toward me.
I follow it to the family alter
where Dad stands,
holding incense sticks in his hands.
Ribbons of smoke
curl from the tips of the incense,
sending messages to my grandfather
and our ancestors.
Dad is asking
for their protection and guidance
during our journey.
Like me and everyone else
he’s sad to leave too.
Hurry, Mom says
when she spots me
in the shadows.
I rush back to our room,
lift my sisters from the bed,
help them dress by candlelight.
Yia is already up,
peeking out at the black sky.
He turns to me.
What if we don’t come back?
I don’t know.
What if we never find
another place like this?
What he means is
another place
like home.
But I can’t answer Yia
because I’m asking myself
the very same thing,”
It is now a half-century since the end of the Vietnam War and the subsequent Communist takeover of Laos. Based on her research and the true stories of her family’s experience (which she was too young to remember firsthand), author V.T. Bidania weaves an often close-call, breath-holding tale about a family’s panicked departure from Laos, and time spent in one Thailand refugee camp, and then another one. The story concludes with a joyful reunification in
America.
The tale’s narrator is eleven-year-old firstborn Gao Sheng. She is an enthusiastic scholar, a responsible big sister to her three little sisters, and close to Yia, the one boy among the siblings. Their father was among the Hmong working with the CIA and fighting alongside the Americans in Vietnam and now, in the wake of the Communist takeover, he is a marked man. Leaving behind their home in the northern mountains of Laos, leaving the family dog and horse, the main character’s extended family faces dangers but a group of them make it in one piece to the Nam Phong Refugee Camp in Thailand. The whereabouts of other family members remains a mystery.
It’s tough when a new best friend and her family eventually depart the camp, having been sponsored for resettlement in America; it's even harder when family members are chosen to leave. Gao Sheng’s father has hopes of being able to return home to Laos, but he eventually sees the writing on the wall and they are chosen to travel to a new home in the U.S..
With Trump’s war of choice overshadowing the world, and a mandatory U.S. draft registration set to begin later this year. A YEAR WITHOUT HOME is a seriously relevant, powerful, coming-of-age story for tweens. It reveals the human toll to be paid by innocent people and children, thanks to those leaders of countries, sects, gangs, or whatever, who, for their own reasons, or for no good reason, choose to initiate hostilities and move us all another generation away from the Sixties dream of world peace I embraced in my own tween days,.
A YEAR WITHOUT HOME is a book to embrace.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
January 21, 2026
A young girl finds her entire world upended when the aftermath of war forces her family to leave their beloved home forever. The girl finds herself asking hard questions that have no answers, and yet she also manages to find some good in the world as well. Author V.T. Bidania leans into her own family’s experience to share her protagonist’s poignant story in her newest book, A Year Without Home.
Eleven-year-old Gao Sheng lives in a lovely home on a hill in Laos. Her house has peach trees out back with the sweetest fruit, and she and her siblings and cousins roll down the hill during their playtime. Even though her younger brother can bug her sometimes, she loves him and the rest of her family with everything inside of her.
Yet it’s clear that not everyone loves them back. Gao Sheng and her family are Hmong, and there are many people in Laos who believe the Hmong should leave. This is even more apparent after the end of the recent war, but Gao Sheng isn’t worried. The Communists left; everything should be fine.
Except it isn’t. One day while Gao Sheng and her brother are in school, word comes that the Communists have returned. This time they have a list of all the people who fought against them. Gao Sheng knows her father’s name is on the list, but she doesn’t even have a chance to start worrying. All the grownups in the family make fast plans, and Gao Sheng—the oldest not only of her own siblings but all the kids in the house—gets a bad feeling. Yet she can’t show it; the little ones in the family don’t understand. She has to be strong for them.
The family goes from the house on a hill to a river escape in the middle of the night on boats and finally to a refugee camp in Thailand. There Gao Sheng tries to be brave, but it’s hard. Conditions at the camp are challenging enough when the family arrives, and they start to get worse as more refugees join them.
Yet even in a place where people get sick and don’t have enough to eat, there are still moments of fun. New friends are found, and Gao Sheng even gets to go back to school. In the year she and her family spend at the camp, Gao Sheng realizes that home isn’t just a location. It’s also a place you find in your heart.
Author V.T. Bidania shares in a note at the end of the book that she used her own family’s experiences to tell Gao Sheng’s story, and that authenticity rings true through every verse of the novel. The book doesn’t shy away from sharing the harsh conditions of the refugee camp or of the utter terror Gao Sheng and her family feel at the news of the Communists’ return. Yet it does so in gentle language that readers in the target audience will find instructive and evocative.
Bidania uses the novel-in-verse form to her greatest advantage with descriptions of Laos and the camp in Thailand practically jumping off the page and coming alive. Gao Sheng’s story becomes the story of every young girl, every young person who has lived through such traumatic times; it displays in clear, easy prose how war forever alters life for the youngest of residents in damaged countries. The book highlights the aftermath of a conflict often passed over, especially in modern times. Bidania’s novel proves it bears remembering.
Teachers in particular will want to add this book to their classroom libraries, and anyone wanting to further their knowledge of life after the Vietnam War should read this.
Eleven-year-old Gao Sheng lives in a lovely home on a hill in Laos. Her house has peach trees out back with the sweetest fruit, and she and her siblings and cousins roll down the hill during their playtime. Even though her younger brother can bug her sometimes, she loves him and the rest of her family with everything inside of her.
Yet it’s clear that not everyone loves them back. Gao Sheng and her family are Hmong, and there are many people in Laos who believe the Hmong should leave. This is even more apparent after the end of the recent war, but Gao Sheng isn’t worried. The Communists left; everything should be fine.
Except it isn’t. One day while Gao Sheng and her brother are in school, word comes that the Communists have returned. This time they have a list of all the people who fought against them. Gao Sheng knows her father’s name is on the list, but she doesn’t even have a chance to start worrying. All the grownups in the family make fast plans, and Gao Sheng—the oldest not only of her own siblings but all the kids in the house—gets a bad feeling. Yet she can’t show it; the little ones in the family don’t understand. She has to be strong for them.
The family goes from the house on a hill to a river escape in the middle of the night on boats and finally to a refugee camp in Thailand. There Gao Sheng tries to be brave, but it’s hard. Conditions at the camp are challenging enough when the family arrives, and they start to get worse as more refugees join them.
Yet even in a place where people get sick and don’t have enough to eat, there are still moments of fun. New friends are found, and Gao Sheng even gets to go back to school. In the year she and her family spend at the camp, Gao Sheng realizes that home isn’t just a location. It’s also a place you find in your heart.
Author V.T. Bidania shares in a note at the end of the book that she used her own family’s experiences to tell Gao Sheng’s story, and that authenticity rings true through every verse of the novel. The book doesn’t shy away from sharing the harsh conditions of the refugee camp or of the utter terror Gao Sheng and her family feel at the news of the Communists’ return. Yet it does so in gentle language that readers in the target audience will find instructive and evocative.
Bidania uses the novel-in-verse form to her greatest advantage with descriptions of Laos and the camp in Thailand practically jumping off the page and coming alive. Gao Sheng’s story becomes the story of every young girl, every young person who has lived through such traumatic times; it displays in clear, easy prose how war forever alters life for the youngest of residents in damaged countries. The book highlights the aftermath of a conflict often passed over, especially in modern times. Bidania’s novel proves it bears remembering.
Teachers in particular will want to add this book to their classroom libraries, and anyone wanting to further their knowledge of life after the Vietnam War should read this.
September 21, 2025
ARC provided by Follett First Look
In this novel in verse, Gao Sheng is the oldest of five children living an idyllic life with their parents, grandmother, and extended family in a how in Pa Kao, Laos in 1975. The father has been involved in the Vietnam war, but isn't on active duty anymore. When Gao Sheng's school releases students abruptly, the children find out that the communists are threatening to take over their area. Gao Sheng's father comes home, and tells the family that they will be leaving. The family horse and dog are set free, the family packs meager supplies, and takes off in a taxi for an air base. Sadly, they miss the two planes, so go to Vientiane to stay with the mother's cousin and regroup. Since the officials are checking identification on the main roadways, the father disguises himself and goes through the jungle, since he could be arrested for having been in the army. While in the city, the mother is arrested, the police having been tipped off by a taxi driver. Luckily, she is released. Eventually, the family crosses the river into Thailand, where they stay at the Nam Phong refugee camp. The accomodations are basic, but there is food, and the children are able to play soccer. Gao Sheng does needlework with the women, and eventually there is a school set up. Gao Sheng makes a friend, Choua, who leaves to go to live in Tennessee with her family. The family has a short but successful stint of selling moon cakes before the camp authorities shut them down over health concerns. An uncle and his family get sponsors in the US and leave, taking Gao Sheng's brother Yia with them because he is considered very important, being the only boy in the family. The family is transferred to the Ban Vinai refugee camp, where they have to build their own shelter. About a year after leaving g their home, the family eventually makes it to Sparta, Wisconsin, in 1976, not too far from Yia.
Strengths: While Gao Sheng was losing her home, I was finishing fourth grade, wearing Hee Haw overalls and wondering what 5th grade at the middle school would be like. This put the history into perspective for me. While there weren't as many Hmong refugees in Ohio as there were in Wisconsin or Minnesota, there were a few, and looking back to the history 50 years later after so many people left the country is important. It was interesting that the author was so young that she didn't remember her family's journey very well, so she set it from the point of view of her oldest sister, and interviewed family members to get details. This might be why the journey doesn't seem quite as fraught as it no doubt was. This was a fascinating look at a period in history that many readers might not know about.
Weaknesses: While this is a beautifully written novel in verse with a lot of poetic descriptions and palpable longing for a lost home, I'm not sure how many of my students will make it past the detailed descriptions of small events and feelings. The authors note at the end was helpful in explaining the history behind the family's experience, but it would have been good to see more of that in the text.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who are interested in tales of displacement such as Lai's Inside Out and Back Again, Athaide's Wings to Soar, or Dobbs' The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna.
In this novel in verse, Gao Sheng is the oldest of five children living an idyllic life with their parents, grandmother, and extended family in a how in Pa Kao, Laos in 1975. The father has been involved in the Vietnam war, but isn't on active duty anymore. When Gao Sheng's school releases students abruptly, the children find out that the communists are threatening to take over their area. Gao Sheng's father comes home, and tells the family that they will be leaving. The family horse and dog are set free, the family packs meager supplies, and takes off in a taxi for an air base. Sadly, they miss the two planes, so go to Vientiane to stay with the mother's cousin and regroup. Since the officials are checking identification on the main roadways, the father disguises himself and goes through the jungle, since he could be arrested for having been in the army. While in the city, the mother is arrested, the police having been tipped off by a taxi driver. Luckily, she is released. Eventually, the family crosses the river into Thailand, where they stay at the Nam Phong refugee camp. The accomodations are basic, but there is food, and the children are able to play soccer. Gao Sheng does needlework with the women, and eventually there is a school set up. Gao Sheng makes a friend, Choua, who leaves to go to live in Tennessee with her family. The family has a short but successful stint of selling moon cakes before the camp authorities shut them down over health concerns. An uncle and his family get sponsors in the US and leave, taking Gao Sheng's brother Yia with them because he is considered very important, being the only boy in the family. The family is transferred to the Ban Vinai refugee camp, where they have to build their own shelter. About a year after leaving g their home, the family eventually makes it to Sparta, Wisconsin, in 1976, not too far from Yia.
Strengths: While Gao Sheng was losing her home, I was finishing fourth grade, wearing Hee Haw overalls and wondering what 5th grade at the middle school would be like. This put the history into perspective for me. While there weren't as many Hmong refugees in Ohio as there were in Wisconsin or Minnesota, there were a few, and looking back to the history 50 years later after so many people left the country is important. It was interesting that the author was so young that she didn't remember her family's journey very well, so she set it from the point of view of her oldest sister, and interviewed family members to get details. This might be why the journey doesn't seem quite as fraught as it no doubt was. This was a fascinating look at a period in history that many readers might not know about.
Weaknesses: While this is a beautifully written novel in verse with a lot of poetic descriptions and palpable longing for a lost home, I'm not sure how many of my students will make it past the detailed descriptions of small events and feelings. The authors note at the end was helpful in explaining the history behind the family's experience, but it would have been good to see more of that in the text.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who are interested in tales of displacement such as Lai's Inside Out and Back Again, Athaide's Wings to Soar, or Dobbs' The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna.
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