Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai  

Inside Out & Back Again sweeps readers away with ten-year-old Ha as she flees Saigon at the time of the Vietnam War (1975). Written in verse, Thanhha Lai creatively shares the emotions and fears of leaving one’s home and country and embarking on a new life in a foreign land. I cried with Ha as she left her beloved papaya tree and gave up hope of her father’s return from the war in the north. I laughed as she struggled learning English with it’s various spelling rules.

Inside Out & Back Again is a wonderful book I highly recommend for children eight years and older. Whether you’re adjusting to a new culture or extending compassion to a stranger, Thanhha Lai shows us how it’s done.

Young Adult Historical Fiction at 260 pages.Lai, Thanhha.

Inside out & Back Again. Harper, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2017.