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October 2026 - Graciela in the Abyss
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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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2 April 2011 INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai, HarperCollins, February 2011, 272p., ISBN: 978-0-06-196278-3
"In what former President Jimmy Carter calls 'one of the most racist campaigns in modern southern political history,' the Wallace campaign aired TV ads with slogans such as 'Do you want the Black Block electing your governor?' and circulated an ad showing a white girl surrounded by seven black boys, with the slogan 'Wake up Alabama! Blacks vow to take over Alabama.'"
-- from the sect ...more
"In what former President Jimmy Carter calls 'one of the most racist campaigns in modern southern political history,' the Wallace campaign aired TV ads with slogans such as 'Do you want the Black Block electing your governor?' and circulated an ad showing a white girl surrounded by seven black boys, with the slogan 'Wake up Alabama! Blacks vow to take over Alabama.'"
-- from the sect ...more

This novel is verse is an interesting look into one Vietnamese girl’s experience emigrating to the US during the Vietnam War. Her descriptions of Vietnam were very evocative and I loved each of her brothers so much. Her insight into what it’s like to go from being smart in your native language to being dumb because you haven’t yet learned the language in the country where you are a refugee was heartbreaking. (3 hours)

Nov 19, 2011
Jennifer
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
poetry,
z-2012,
multicultural,
diversity,
reviewed,
asian-american,
library-copy,
orange-chapter,
newbery-honor,
war
An emotionally stunning book, perhaps because as a verse novel, the reader is able to rush through all the experiences in a brief period.
No, this story would be just as emotional (but likely less beautiful) had it a typical word count. Within just a few pages, the author had me choked up with worry over the fate of an unripe papaya, even while I was too emotionally invested to recognize the papaya as representing the main character.
And what a wonderful main character Ha is, her voice familiar wh ...more
No, this story would be just as emotional (but likely less beautiful) had it a typical word count. Within just a few pages, the author had me choked up with worry over the fate of an unripe papaya, even while I was too emotionally invested to recognize the papaya as representing the main character.
And what a wonderful main character Ha is, her voice familiar wh ...more

An absolutely beautiful semi-autobiographical novel about a young girl ripped from her life in 1970s vietnam during the fall of Saigon. Written entirely in verse, it is lyrical and poignant while at the same time remaining interesting and entertaining. While this book is probably aimed at about grades 3 - 6, I am afraid this story and format may appeal more to adults than its intended audience. A great read none the less (and I can now say I DO read poetry!)

A beautiful way for the author to choose to tell her own story. Any one who has ever moved and been "the new kid" will be able to identify and empathize with the main character as she and her family try to adjust to their move to America.
...more

Book on verse about a young girl's journey from Viet Nam to Alabama in the course of a year. Hopeful. ...more

Interesting story told in verse about a young girl's experience leaving Vietnam at the end of the Vietnamese war and coming to the US with her family. It is a fast, easy read through which upper elementary students could experience coming to a new land with a new language and new customs. It may help them empathize better with ESL students in their own schools and neighborhoods, always a good thing.
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I love how free verse distills ideas and images. So succinct.
Kim Ha tells us in clipped phrase vivid impressions of her life in Viet Nam after her dad disappears in the war, when the Americans leave, her family's flight from Viet Nam, her mother's grief, adjusting in Alabama, and finally settling.
...more
Kim Ha tells us in clipped phrase vivid impressions of her life in Viet Nam after her dad disappears in the war, when the Americans leave, her family's flight from Viet Nam, her mother's grief, adjusting in Alabama, and finally settling.
...more


Aug 13, 2011
Beth
marked it as middle-grade-to-read

Nov 22, 2011
Melissa
marked it as to-read

Nov 29, 2011
Paul
marked it as to-read


Jan 30, 2012
Chantelle
marked it as to-read

Jan 07, 2013
Mallory
marked it as to-read



Jan 01, 2018
Lori
rated it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
own-on-kindle,
newbery-honor