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June Read- Inside Out and Back Again
By Kim · 15 posts · 137 views
By Kim · 15 posts · 137 views
last updated Dec 19, 2011 08:09AM
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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
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

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

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.
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Oct 18, 2011
Karyn The Pirate
marked it as to-read


Feb 17, 2012
JoAnn
marked it as to-read


Apr 14, 2012
Annisha Jeffries
marked it as to-read