Quote That Shows Ha Is Having Trouble Learning English Inside Out and Back Again

Inside Out and Back Again

Title: Inside Out and Back Again

Author: Thanhha Lai

Illustrator/ Photographer: N/A

Publisher and Year: Harper Collins Books, 2011

Number of Pages: 272

Tags/ Themes: Family, Perseverance, Vietnam War, Growing Up, 5-7, Newbery Honor Book, National Book Award Winner

Genre:Historical Fiction

Descriptive Annotation:

Ha is a little girl growing up in Saigon, Vietnam with her Mother and 2 brothers. Her father left in the Navy to fight a mission and never returned. The family is very hopeful that one day he will return home but it has been years since they have last seen Father. The Vietnam War is currently going on and Ha's mother believes soon they will be forced out of their home in Saigon. This place is all that Ha knows because her family has lived here her entire life. One day the war gets too close to their home so Ha and her family flee to the port in hope to get on a Navy ship that is helping people flee Vietnam. Her family and a lot of other families squeeze on the naval ship and embark on a trip of hope to safety. On the boat Ha and her family manage to grab two straw mats to call home until they reach America. During the trip Ha gets very antsy and is tired of sitting around all day and eating small portions of food. The ship finally reaches land in Florida. Her family lives at the camp for a while, they are waiting for an American to come take her family under their wings. While at camp Ha and her brothers take classes and her mom sews clothes to sell on the camp's black market. Ha's family is finally taken in by a cowboy from Alabama. The cowboy flies Ha's family to Alabama and they live out of his basement until they can find a home. Ha and her youngest brother Vu attend the same school while her other brothers attend college and work at a mechanic. Ha hates school at first because she does not understand the language and the other kids are mean to her! Ha struggles with learning English and thinks all it's rules are very silly. Ha's family finally moves into their own two-bedroom house. Their neighbor is a retired teacher who helps Ha learn English. Ha begins to do better in school and makes two friends, Steven and Pam. They help Ha with the American culture and defend her from the bullies. In the end, the family realizes Father is never coming home and that they will just have to move on with their new life in America.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity:

The language is pretty easy to follow except for the words and names in Vietnamese. All of Ha and her siblings names are in Vietnamese which are fairly difficult to pronounce but it shows the readers how the Vietnamese language sounds and looks. The book shows the reader different aspects of Ha's Vietnamese culture, the city of Saigon is discussed, the food is discussed, and their daily activities in Vietnam are discussed. This may generate discussion with your students on how it seems that American cities are run fairly different than those in Vietnam.

This story is written in chapter poems. Some of the poems are only a few lines and some take up numerous pages. I really enjoyed reading this story in this format because it was something I was not used to!

Interdisciplinary Connection:

This story would best relate to social studies and writing. Using this book students could compare the culture of Vietnam to that in the United States. In the book it is very clear that children's lives in Vietnam do not always revolve around being in school all day, it also seemed as though children in Vietnam had more freedom without parent watch. Students could also compare Ha's trip to America to those who have emigrated to the United States through Ellis Island. Many students may have family members who have travelled to the United States so it may be neat for them to interview their family if possible. This would give students a better insight on their culture and how everyone's travels to America may be different.

Other Information:

This book was not a direct biography of the author's childhood but many points were from her childhood. The background for the story was 100% true but the author included other details in the story to make it more interesting. I found the story to be really fascinating and found myself thinking of my Grandpa's trip to the United States while reading about Ha's story. I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I could see myself using it in a reading group setting, where the books for this set of reading groups are all about kid's trips to America. This was one of my favorite books I read during my blog experience!

Quote That Shows Ha Is Having Trouble Learning English Inside Out and Back Again

Source: https://blogs.iwu.edu/edu320spring14clrb/2014/04/04/inside-out-and-back-again/

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