Inside Out & Back Again – Thanhha Lai
For all the ten years of her life, HÃ 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. HÃ and her family are forced to
flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÃ
discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of strangers, the dullness
of its food, the strange shape of its landscape, and the strength of her very
own family.
Review: One of
my goals this year was to read more novels-in-verse. I’ve been slacking badly
on that goal, but better late than never, right?
Inside
Out & Back Again is an #Ownvoices middlegrade novel that is
loosely based on the author’s experiences as a Vietnamese refugee in the US.
The story is narrated by HÃ , a curious and intelligent ten-year-old. After the
Vietnam War forces HÃ ’s family from their home, they settle in Alabama, where
everything is strange. The food tastes bad, the people dress weirdly, HÃ ’s new
classmates are bullies, and English makes no sense. HÃ survived a war, but now
she faces a whole new set of challenges.
“Oh, my daughter,
at times you have to fight,
but preferably
not with your fists.” – Inside Out &
Back Again
For an adult, this book is a very quick read. It’s less than 300 pages and
written in simple verse. I finished it in one sitting. It may also be a good
book for reluctant readers (if you can convince them that poetry doesn’t suck).
The plot is straightforward, the cast of characters is small, and there aren’t
many words on each page. Kids might get a sense of accomplishment from turning
pages so quickly.
I love
HÃ .
She’s such a sweet kid. To me, she comes
across as a believable ten-year-old with childlike concerns. She wants to
know what they serve for lunch at school and why the men in cowboy hats don’t
own horses. Those are probably the same questions I would’ve had as a kid in a
strange place. Especially the horses thing. I was obsessed with horses as a
kid. I would have been very disappointed to find a cowboy who didn’t own a
horse.
The
author does an excellent job of capturing the disorientation of being in a new
country. There’s one scene where HÃ is looking up words in the
dictionary, but there are so many definitions for each word that she gets
confused. She goes from being a smart kid in Vietnam to feeling dumb in
America. She observes everything that goes on around her, but she can’t really
participate because she doesn’t understand what’s happening. All she knows is
that she’s different.
“I’m hiding in class
by staring at my shoes.
I’m hiding during lunch
in the bathroom,
eating hard rolls
saved from dinner.
I’m hiding during outside time
in the same bathroom.
I’m hiding after school
until Brother Khôi
rides up to
our secret corner.” – Inside Out &
Back Again
Admittedly, I’m not a poetry expert, but I think
there are a few brilliant poems in this
novel and a lot of “meh” poems. To me, most of the poems seem like
chopped-up prose. They don’t do anything unique with language or structure.
They could have been written as a block of text, and the effect would have been
the same. I know that this is a book for kids, so it can’t be too complicated,
but I would have liked to see more
variety (or creativity) in the poems.
The choppy
poetry is an effective way to show HÃ ’s alienation,
though. Everyone around her speaks fluent English. While her classmates jabber
away, she struggles to string words together. Her classmates are reading
novels, and she’s trying to pronounce the letter S.
This
isn’t my favorite novel-in-verse, but I can see why it has won so many awards. It
shows the challenges that refugees face when they come to a new country. The
author’s real-life experiences give the novel authenticity. If you’re new to
reading novels-in-verse, this would be a good place to start. The characters
are likeable, and the plot is compelling. And, the poems won’t kill you. I
promise.
“Our lives
will twist and twist,
intermingling the old and the new
until it doesn't matter
which is which.” – Inside Out & Back
Again
List of
people/things I’d be devastated to see stabbed: 
List of
people who need wicked-awesome redemption arcs in which they become the most
badass heroes ever. (Stabbing them is optional): 
List of
moments that gave me minor heart attacks and probably shortened my lifespan by at least ten days: 
List of
moments that made me happy: 
List of
game-changing moments: 
List of
reasons I’d never be invited on a zombie-hunting mission: 
List of characters
who need more scenes together: 
List of
infuriating questions that must be answered about the Battle Beyond the Wall: 
List of important
life lessons I learned from Season 7: 
