When clouds touch us

Title:

Inside out & back again.

Author:

Lại, Thanhhà, author.

Publication Information:

New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2023]

Edition:

First edition.

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

244 pages ; 22 cm

General Note:

Sequel to Inside out & back again.

Summary:

A novel in verse inspired by the author's experience follows Hà and her family, refugees from the Vietnam War, as they move to Texas for a new job, and despite not wanting to start over again, Hà discovers unwanted change can bring a good opportunity.

Reading Level:

5.4

Target Audience:

Grades 3-7.

Program Information:

Accelerated Reader AR MG 5.4 2.0 Accelerated Reader Quiz #519649.

Subject Term:

Emigration and immigration -- Juvenile fiction.

Immigrants -- Juvenile fiction.

Moving, Household -- Juvenile fiction.

Novels in verse.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Juvenile fiction.

Vietnamese Americans -- Juvenile fiction.

Geographic Term:

Texas -- Juvenile fiction.

Vietnam -- History -- 1971-1980 -- Juvenile fiction.

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Novels in verse.

Added Author:

Sequel to: Lại, Thanhhà. Inside out & back again.

ISBN:

9780063047006

Document ID:

SD_ILS:5055105

Availability:

Library	Call Number	Format	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Abington Public Library	LAI	J BOOK	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award finalist!

Inspired by the author's own childhood, this stunning novel in verse, the sequel to the award-winning #1 bestseller Inside Out and Back Again, picks up two years after Hà and her family arrive in Alabama as refugees from the Việt Nam War.

Hà and her family have worked hard to make a life for themselves in the US, but it hasn't come easy. Hà has only just started to feel settled when Mother decides that the family will move to Texas for a new job.

Hà knows how hard starting over is and doesn't want to have to do it again. But sometimes even an unwanted change can bring opportunity, new friends, and a place to call home.

This lyrical and compelling sequel to the National Book Award Medalist and Newbery Honor winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel Inside Out and Back Again follows Hà and her family through another year of upheaval, growth, and love.

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 3--7--"The style is called prose poems," Lai prefaces the lyrical sequel to her 2011 National Book Award--winning debut, Inside Out & Back Again. "This is to convey what it's like to think in Vietnamese, a naturally poetic language… I've kept the prose-poem voice… because Vietnamese still swirls inside Hà's mind two years later." Tween Hà is finally feeling settled in Alabama, where she and her brothers arrived with their mother as refugees after fleeing Vietnam. The promise of better opportunities in Texas, however, causes another reluctant uprooting. Again, Hà is "always the only Asian" as she attends her "third sixth grade/ within thirty days." Despite relentless challenges--grueling work, cultural disconnects, always the racism--creating a lasting home together becomes a binding motivator. Vietnamese Irish American Leahy makes her aural debut as Hà's optimal bilingual cipher, effortlessly moving between languages with youthful, hopeful vocalization. VERDICT Libraries should prepare for significant demand in all formats.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this sequel to the Newbery Honor book Inside Out and Back Again, Lai delivers a poignant yet sobering verse novel depicting 12-year-old Vietnamese refugee Hà's struggles acclimating to life in the United States. Hà and her brothers have barely gotten used to living in Alabama when they learn they might be relocating to Texas so their mother can seek better work opportunities. Reluctant to leave her best friend Pam ("I scream to myself/ 'Not fair' "), Hà searches for ways to stay in Alabama. She attempts to earn money for the family by growing lantanas and babysitting, but "visions of gliding though/ seventh grade halls/ blending among others" often leads to her using her hard-earned funds to buy herself clothes from Kmart. Hà's loneliness, coupled with guilt over her mother's juggling multiple jobs to save up for a house, powerfully illustrates the sometimes conflicting emotional burdens that immigrant children can face in trying to take on adult responsibilities. Through piercingly spare language that boasts expert rhythm, resonance, and cadence, Lai offers a story of hope and resourcefulness, and a sensitive portrayal of one 12-year-old's life carefully observed. Supporting characters read as white. Ages 8--12. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary. (May)

Booklist Review

Lai returns to the post--Vietnam War world of Inside Out and Back Again (2011) in this novel in verse, which follows Hà, her mother, and her older brothers during another year of turmoil. Her mother's choice to move the family from Alabama to Texas--a state whose name they cannot pronounce--for a better job uproots them yet again. Lai captures Hà's attempts at acclimation while still yearning for what has been lost. How can she move forward when she discovers things she never knew about, like the My Lai massacre? While rooted in the 1970s, this memoiresque novel captures experiences that refugees in many times and places face: the sense of longing, the confusion, and the family dynamics that shift and change. Readers with older siblings, who support their family in little ways, and those who have struggled with being the "only one" in a classroom will slip easily into Lai's world, though this sequel will come easier to those familiar with Inside Out and Back Again. Ideal for fans of Linda Sue Park, Jasmine Warga, and Andrea Beatriz Arango.

Quincy Thomas Crane Library

Availability:

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review