Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai is a novel written in verse, capturing the perspectives of a young Vietnamese immigrant, Kim Hà. Based on Lai's own experiences as a refugee from the Vietnam War, Hà is a young girl forced to escape her home in Saigon in order to find "safety" in the USA with her three brothers and mother. Published in 2011, Lai paints the pains that come along with the strive to find the "American dream," as well as the experiences of thousands of refugees that are blindly overlooked by the majority of the USA.
Through little verses written in Hà's diary, her view as a teenage girl in the middle of a war on her homefront and her venture as a refugee to the States are portrayed to allow the audience to show empathy for all Vietnamese immigrants. Whether it was the frowns upon her face when the President of Vietnam surrendered to the Communist party, the difficulties of escaping by boat, her frustrations with the many vowels of the English language, or the blatant racism she faced as the only "yellow" in her newfound community, the reader will always be able to empathize with Hà, her family, and all other refugees from the Vietnam War.
As a first-generation Vietnamese American, this book greatly helped me understand the griefs and struggles my parents and family faced when fleeing to this country, especially since Hà's story is identical to my father's. It allowed me to connect back to my culture, as the mentions of the beloved foods and traditions I have come to know like bánh chưng and Tết warmed my heart. I was able to relate with Hà when she wrote about her experiences of being pulled by the pink white boy, as I too have faced that. I had talks with my parents about this book, even read it to them, and I was able to connect with them and their stories in a way I never have before. Most of all, I was able to feel sympathy and utmost gratitude for all the pains and sufferings my parents and family went through and are still going through to be here, in America.
While this wonderful book of poems is incredible to read if you have a connection to the history of Vietnam and its war or its people, I cannot imagine the impact it could have on a person that doesn't have that connection, and what they could learn from the experiences that Hà speaks about. I would hope it would lead them to understand the struggles and discrimination that immigrants of color face when arriving to the USA, and that it would eventually lead the rest of America to be a little less ignorant when it comes to learning about a group of people besides the "white man."
A novel with verses full of color, tradition, and ups and downs, Inside Out & Back Again's painful, yet pretty story of human resilience is an excellent way to connect to a foreign country's past and its people.
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