Poetry/Middle Grades Book Review/Historical
Inside Out & Back Again
By Thanhha Lai

Renee Chaffin

Based on the author's experience on coming to America after the fall of Saigon and written in free-verse poems, this coming of age is a powerful story of identity, family, and the symbolic hope of America.

Ha is a young girl who loves the smells, colors, and food of Vietnam. She is an avid reader who loves her family and her country. In 1975 after the fall of Saigon, her family is forced to board a navy ship and live in refugee camps before eventually relocating to Alabama with a sponsor family.

Her father is missing, and Ha and her brothers struggle to navigate going to school, the strange food, and the large people in a strange place. She thinks of her father often, and sometimes at night hears her mother crying for her father, even though during the day she is a strong matriarch.

The only thing Americans know about Vietnam is that there was a war. The kids at school make fun of the shaper of her face, her eyes, and her stick straight hair. Ha struggles to learn English, and practices with her sponsor who teaches her new words and exposes her to new and foreign foods. Ha often describes the strange foods as sweet and salty and covered in something white or something fried.

After finishing the book, I read about the author and why she chose to write this as a series of free verse poems. She thought that it sounded more like the mind of a young girl with limited language skills, and carries the same depth if she had chosen to write in a different style.

As a former newcomer teacher, I loved this book. I thought of my students who longed for their country, who had fled the trauma of the narcos, and were missing their relatives, customs, and food. Ha struggles to learn English, and she details her experience in several beautiful and humorous poems.

I highly recommend this book to students, parents, and anyone who wants to read a fast-paced book that will give you information about Vietnam and the experience of living in America as a refugee. It can build empathy and teach about other cultures and students who are learning English.