Inside Out & Back Again
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lai,
Thanhha. 2011. Inside
out & back again. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children’s Books. ISBN 9780061962783
- PLOT SUMMARY
Hà
is a young girl
from Vietnam that recounts one of the most eventful years of her life in this novel
written in verse. She begins the year celebrating Tèt in South Vietnam with her
mother and three brothers. The communist party is slowly taking over all of
Vietnam and with this change comes rising food prices, land distribution, and
uncertainty. Hà’s mom decides it’s best to leave Vietnam
on a navy ship that has agreed to flee the country. The dangerous journey ends
with families stating where they will go. Some end up in France, or Canada, but
Hà’s mom decides to go to America when she realizes
her son can get a scholarship for school. In America, the family is sponsored
by a “cowboy” from Alabama. Here they all begin work and school. The small
family faces discrimination and hardships from all the community, but some key
friendships are also formed. The story ends on the same holiday in America
where the young girl states things are “not the same, but not bad”
- CRITICAL
ANALYSIS
Lai shares the story of a young girl, Hà, that leaves Vietnam much like
she did at her age. The language she uses to tell her story is rich in imagery,
similes, and metaphors like the “old angry knot” that expanded in her throat, or
“a seed like a fish eye, slippery/shiny/black.” The “peacock tails at the
corners” of her fathers’ eyes or the “two green thumbs that will grow into
orange-yellow delights smelling of summer” and all of this found just within
the part describing her time in Vietnam. There are three more parts filled with
it. Some especially emotional moments of pain are shared through these images “A
lion’s paw rips up my throat, still I scream” when she is chased and taunted by
the kids at her school, and when “the screams that never stopped/ inside [her]
head/ cool to a real whisper” after “MiSSSisss
WaSShington” finds her and begins to hold her and calm her down. The way
she reveals the son the that “MiSSSisss WaSShington” lost in the war in such
simple language. I get a lump in my throat and don’t know where to look each
time.
Each part begins with a title page that is difficult to find without a
table of contents. There is an author’s note at the end that shares the author’s
personal connection to the story, the reason she wanted to write it, and the
desire she has to ignite the curiosity of her readers to find there own story.
- REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
ALA
Notable Children's Books
Starred
review in Booklist: “Based on Lai’s personal experience, this first
novel captures a child-refugee’s struggle with rare honesty.”
Starred
review in Horn Book Magazine: “Lai pens a novel in vividly imagined
verse. Each brief poem encapsulates a mood and experience of that year.”
Starred
review in Kirkus Reviews: “In her not-to-be-missed debut, Lai evokes a
distinct time and place and presents a complex, realistic heroine whom readers
will recognize, even if they haven't found themselves in a strange new country.”
Newbery
Honor
Starred
review in Publishers Weekly: “Narrating in sparse free-verse poems,
10-year-old Ha brings a strong, memorable voice to the immigrant experience as
her family moves from war-torn South Vietnam to Alabama in 1975.”
Starred
review in School Library Journal: “A tender tale, leavened with humor
and hope.”
- CONNECTIONS
*This
story can begin conversations about family, refugees, religion, and discrimination.
*Invite
students to write their own free verse poem about any of the topics mentioned
above.
*Invite
students to write a letter to the author sharing moments they loved,
connections they made to their own lives, or any questions they had.
*Other
books written by Thanhha Lai:
Lai,
Thanhha. Listen,
slowly. ISBN 9780062229199
Lai,
Thanhha. Butterfly yellow. ISBN 9780062229229
Lai,
Thanhha. Hundred years of happiness. ISBN 9780063026926
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