Unit 3 Review - Inside Out and Back Again

 

Bibliographic Information

Lai, Thanhha. 2011. INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 978-0-545-44785-0

Plot Summary

For all the ten years of her life, Ha has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Ha and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Ha discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl’s year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next. 

Critical Analysis

A story of the human experience. Told from the perspective of a ten year old girl named Hà, Inside Out and Back Again is a story of hope and the true depths of humanity. The author’s notes at the end of the book tell us that much of what happened to Hà was based on real life experiences that the author herself, Thanhha Lai, experienced. She too at the age of ten witnessed the end of the Vietnam War and fled to Alabama just as Hà did in this beautiful story told in the form of verse poetry. She too had a father missing in action and had to learn English all while experiencing racism, bullying, meanness, and segregation from the many, and thoughtfulness and kindness from the few. The author describes how she wanted to capture Hà’s emotional life. What it was like to live where bombs exploded every night, or sit on a ship headed toward slivers of hope. Thanhha Lai asks the question: How much do we know about those around us? 

This book of parts and poems is told in chronological order beginning in 1975 at the start of the Chinese New Year, and ends on the same day one year later. Each verse is titled with several words giving a short description of what the poem is about. We learn that the narrator of our story is Hà, who lives in Saigon with her mother and three brothers. Her father has been missing for nearly her whole life, but her family holds onto the slim hope that he will come home someday. The family is struggling to make ends meet because of the war, and at only ten years old, Hà has already experience more grief than a young girl should: her missing father, her friends fleeing the country, her family struggling to feed themselves, and saying goodbye to the only home she has ever known in order to stay alive. When the family flees Saigon and the war, they are sponsored by a family in Alabama. Here, Hà struggles to feel at home and battles a lot of emotions in her heart. She says, “No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.”

Part four of this novel holds the resolution and the most hope. Hà says, “Our lives will twist and twist, intermingling the old and the new until it doesn’t matter which is which.” After accepting the fate of her father, the family finally feels as though they can move onto accepting what their lives have become and make the most of it. While I do not typically reach for these types of stories, I found myself smiling along with Hà, and crying real tears feeling the pain of this young girl. The cover is also beautiful, showing a young girl holding onto a papaya tree gazing into the sunset with the wind blowing through her hair. It is a cover of hope and beauty and gives you a glimpse into the story’s contents. If you're not accustomed to reading novels in verse, this would be a wonderful choice with which to start, as the writing flows and the story is completely absorbing.

Awards Won & Review Excerpt(s)

*A 2012 Newbery Honor Book

*2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature

*#1 New York Times Bestseller

*Booklist starred review - “Based on Lai's personal experience, this first novel captures a child–refugee’s struggle with rare honesty. Written in accessible, short free–verse poems, Hà’s immediate narrative describes her mistakes—both humorous and heartbreaking; and readers will be moved by Hà’s sorrow as they recognize the anguish of being the outcast.”

*Kirkus Reviews starred review - “An enlightening, poignant and unexpectedly funny novel in verse. 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.”

Connections

*Although this story is fiction, it is based on real events like the Vietnam War. With students you can learn more about this war through articles, videos, or maps. You can then ask questions like, “How did the Vietnam War affect the everyday lives of the characters in the book?” or, “How might the lives of Há and her brothers have been different if they had not been forced to

flee Vietnam?”

*Have students write their own free verse poem describing an important event in their lives. 

*Read other books by Thanhha Lai: 

WHEN CLOUDS TOUCH US. ISBN 0063047012

HUNDRED YEARS OF HAPPINESS. ISBN 0063026929

BUTTERFLY YELLOW. ISBN 0062229222

LISTEN, SLOWLY. ISBN 0062229192