Inside Out and Back Again

by Thanhha Lai

[readingwithwrin]

Inside Out and Back again follows the journey of HA and her family as they must travel to safety in America to escape the horrors of the Vietnam war.
Once getting to America though everything is not what they thought it would be. Instead, the family must now try to start a whole new life all while the Ha and her siblings go to school and her mom works during the day. Ha and her siblings deal with bullies and not understanding the words that are being said, they are treated like they are stupid or deaf because they don't understand English. Inside Out and Back Again shows the very little talked about side of immigrating to America from another country. It shows the hardships and the good parts at times that come out of this move from the eyes of a middle schooler.

Overall I liked this book. Ha is a character that you want to protect, and she is extremely relatable. She still has the innocence of a child and has fantasies about what America will be like for her and her family. I truly loved getting to see this type of immigration from a child's eyes as I've now read several different perspectives from adult or teenager perspectives when it comes to immigrating in a time of need. This is something that until recently hasn't been talked about, and I'm glad it's getting the attention it needs.

I can't wait to read Thanhha Lai's newest book Butterfly Yellow which also deals with the Vietnam war.