From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026

Inside Out & Back Again
by
Start date
June 1, 2011
Finish date
June 30, 2011
Discussion
What We Are Reading This Month
Why we're reading this
This is our first book for the 2012 Newbery. Our runner up book was Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming. If yo…more

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What Members Thought

Beverly
Dec 26, 2011 rated it it was amazing
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

From the inside flap:

No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope.
...more
Susan  Dunn
Dec 27, 2011 rated it liked it
Shelves: j-fiction
There's been a lot of talk about this as a potential Newbery contender, so I took it home over the weekend and read it really quick. It's a novel in verse, so I was able to get through it quickly. It's a about a young Vietnamese girl just before Saigon falls. She ends up on a boat with her brothers and mother headed towards Thailand and safety. They eventually wind up in Alabama, trying to learn English and adjust to a totally new and unfamiliar way of life - and a lot of hostility from the peop ...more
Mary
Dec 01, 2011 rated it it was amazing
Inside Out and Back Again transports you back in time to the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam war. Ha and her family barely escape and eventually end up in Alabama where they must adjust to life in the United States. This verse novel is beautifully written. Readers understand better how the Vietnamese think and speak after finishing the book. Vietnam is not just a war torn country; it is Ha's home. She describes what food she likes and what she likes to do. The plot, characters, and setting in ...more
Lou Hunley
Apr 06, 2012 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
It's been awhile since I read this one, but it's a great story. It's about a Vietnamese girl whose family escapes to Alabama where they face a whole new set of trials. It's a good piece of historical fiction. The thing that makes this book stand out is the author's use of imagery and language. It was a Newbery Honor Book. I think it should have won. ...more
Kathryn
Aug 17, 2011 rated it it was amazing
Author Thanhha Lai offers the story of 10-year-old Ha during the year that her family escaped Vietnam and began a new life in Alabama in 1975.

Written in verse form this is a beautiful story from a debut children's author.

Exceptional.
...more
Amy
Jan 26, 2012 rated it it was amazing
This is a Newberry Honor book and National Book Award winner. It took me two hours to finish it.

The story is told in verse about a 10 year old Vietnamese girl who becomes a refugee in America.

Powerful, inspiring, heart breaking and poignant.
Ruie
Jun 02, 2012 rated it it was amazing
Fabulous!
Amy
Oct 15, 2011 rated it liked it
Told in verse, this book takes readers from South Vietnam to Alabama, all in one fateful year. I had put it down once, but gave it another shot on audio. Once the family begins to make their escape plans, the book picks up a good pace. There are some disturbing scenes aboard the Navy ship that the family boards in order to flee the communist North Vietnamese. A lot of the story rings true, as it should because it's based on the author's life. ...more
Shawn
Sep 16, 2011 rated it really liked it
Shelves: psy-2012
Writing from her personal experience of fleeing Saigon and settling in Alabama at age 11, the author uses free verse to paint a realistic picture of life for a Vietnamese refugee in 1975-76. Gr.3-6. SLJ Best of 2011.
Annette
Oct 15, 2011 rated it liked it
Karyn The Pirate
Oct 18, 2011 marked it as to-read
Laura
Oct 31, 2011 rated it really liked it
Jenna
Dec 06, 2011 rated it really liked it
Shelves: middle-grade, verse
Ann
Dec 06, 2011 rated it really liked it
Jeanette
Jan 07, 2012 rated it liked it
Shelves: childrens
Hannah
Jan 15, 2012 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: childrens-books
Wendy Garland
Feb 02, 2012 rated it really liked it
April Moody
Feb 04, 2012 rated it really liked it
JoAnn
Feb 17, 2012 marked it as to-read
Claire Caterer
Apr 12, 2012 marked it as to-read
Shelves: middle-grade
Annisha Jeffries
Apr 14, 2012 marked it as to-read
Kristen
Sep 12, 2012 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Hannah
Oct 13, 2012 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: childrens-books
Laurie
Dec 08, 2012 rated it really liked it
Amanda
Jan 03, 2013 rated it really liked it
Amanda A
Feb 09, 2013 marked it as ktbr  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: overdrive