From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026…

Inside Out & Back Again

Thanhhà Lại

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
[close] This is our first book for the 2012 Newbery. Our runner up book was Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming. If you would like you can read both.

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What We Are Reading This Month

October 2026 - Graciela in the Abyss
By Kristen · 1 post · 17 views

last updated Oct 01, 2025 07:27PM

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What Members Thought

Aug 26, 2019 Jill Williamson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: middle-grade-historical, discrimination-racism, mit-e-4th-grade-list, immigration-refugee-books, bullying, newberry

What a wonderful book! I so appreciated seeing through Há's eyes as she and her family moved from Saigon to Alabama and all that they went through, trying to grieve what was left behind and adapt to what was new. This is a wonderful book to help kids understand what immigration can be like (and to some degree, how it feels to be a new student from a far away place). It did a wonderful job of both educating and building empathy. It would also be a great book to use to study Vietnamese culture. Th ...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Natalie Harvey rated it liked it

Shelves: child-lit, middle-grade, family, fiction, historical, war, fitting-in, verse-novel, refugee

Recommended to me by my 4th and 5th grade Vietnamese students. They kept passing the library copy around, so I just bought my own. I can see why they liked it so much. The beginning is set in wartime Saigon but describes the everyday culture and life well. (I kinda want a papaya right now.) The latter half of the book relates the ELL experience, learning the language, eating weird American food, and fitting in at school (or really, really not), among other things.

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Feb 23, 2012 Krystal rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A Newbery Honor book this year, and very deserving. Beautifully written and a compelling story, that reads very, very quickly. I think this would be a great book to read and discuss in the classroom.

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Jan 26, 2023 Jill rated it it was amazing

This was a re-read in preparation for the sequel. I loved it just as much the second time. ♥️

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Jun 18, 2014 Marie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The style of the book made it interesting. I enjoyed it

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Dec 17, 2019 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, middle-grade, diversity, race-relations, bravery, perseverance, feelings, family, from-old-tbr-2019, gr-2019-challenge

A very quick, but powerful read. Highly recommended to those who enjoy historical fiction. This would also make a nice read aloud for teachers/parents who are trying to build empathy in their students/kids.

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