Read this when
Inside Out & Back Again
Top of her class in Saigon. 'Slow' in Alabama. 🌱 Same brain, new language. Inside Out & Back Again gets what moving countries really costs.
Who it's for
Hà's voice, spare and sharp, lets readers live one year of displacement from the inside: leaving Saigon, the long sea journey, and a new life in Alabama where she suddenly can't express how clever she is.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Inside Out & Back Again is a novel in free verse by Thanhha Lai, narrated by Hà, a ten-year-old girl in Saigon. In 1975, during the Fall of Saigon, Hà's family flees Vietnam by navy ship, spends time in a refugee camp in Guam, and then resettles in Alabama. There Hà struggles with a new language, school and culture while the family waits for news of her father, who has been missing in action.
Where to find it
In print (HarperCollins) and widely available in libraries, including Libby/Hoopla. An audiobook exists; check your library.
Before you start
Heads up: War and a father missing, presumed dead.
Age: Ages 9+
Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question:W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk
