Spring 2019, Wild Readers 5 discussion

The book I read for the Newbery Honor category was “Inside Out and Back Again” by Thanhha Lai. I chose this book when I read the author’s name. I wanted to read something different. This story even though is fiction, some parts were based on Lais’ life. It is about a little girl from Vietnam whom loves her lifestyle/home but is forced to moved away with her mom and three brothers. They are refugees because of the Vietnam War. I love how the author was able to write about her experience when she was a little girl. She doesn’t say it is her story, but the narrator is the little girl named Ha. When they are set with a sponsor from Alabama she has to start school. She is bullied, and she hates the fact that she doesn’t fit in the American lifestyle. Ha is a smart and brave girl whom tries her best at school, studies English every day, she loves her family and wishes to one day see her father again even though they know he is gone. We get to see her stand up for her self and show classmates and teachers how smart she is aside from the language and cultural barriers. She ends up making friends and her brothers all different are either working or going to college. I loved learning about a different culture and some of their traditions. It was a great book, within a year this ten-year-old girl life changed, and you get to read about her journey on the way to healing and loving her new home.