By Thanhha Lai
This touching story of Ha and her family as they flee the fall of Saigon and the encroaching communist regime is poignant and heart warming. This book offers the reader a rarely seen glimpse of American History. Ha has grown up the the beautiful city of Saigon, even as the Vietnam war comes closer she values her freedom and small treats. When the family is then forced to flee amid thousands on ships full of squalor, she comes to realize that her life is in for a dramatic change. Forced to sit still on a crowded ship and reduced to small rations, she hopes to be picked up by a foreign freighter. Finally, they are found by an American ship and are transported to the United States.
This is just the beginning of her journey, they must wait in a refugee camp waiting for somebody to be willing to sponsor her family and give them a job and home. Families move in and out of the camp while they wait finally someone who is looking for an auto mechanic is willing to sponsor the family and they move to Alabama. Fitting into rural America is hard when you are from Vietnam. The family is forced to regress in school, since they do not know the language. They are viewed as stupid and inferior. They are forced to conform to Christianity in an attempt to be accepted. Ha is bullied incessantly and finally fights back. Slowly and surely with the help from an understanding teacher Ha begins to feel at home and befriend her classmates.
This is a beautifully written story in poetic verse. It is an easy and quick read, but the content is middle school or above. Although, it is suitable for either gender, it definitely skews feminine. I loved this story and this view of immigration in the United States and give it a 4.5 stars I loved this book and encourage anyone to grab a copy.
Links
No comments:
Post a Comment