by Thanhha Lai
First published 2017
Hà has spent her entire decade of life in Saigon, where bustling markets pulse with energy and familiar traditions wrap around her like her mother's arms. Her friends live nearby. Her world makes sense. Then the Vietnam War crashes into her neighborhood. The family must run as their city crumbles. They climb aboard a ship sailing toward an uncertain American shore. Alabama greets Hà with strangeness at every turn. The people remain distant and cold. The food tastes flat and foreign on her tongue. Everything she once knew how to do becomes impossible in this new language, this new culture. She struggles to find her place in classrooms where other children stare. Yet as Hà navigates this bewildering landscape, she begins to understand something unexpected. Her family's love travels across oceans. Their bond grows stronger under pressure. In losing her homeland, Hà must discover what home really means.
Genres: family-life, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, coming-of-age, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Alabama, Saigon, Vietnam
Period: Vietnam War
288 pages · Hardcover · HarperCollins