by Thanhhà Lai; illustrated by Zdenko Baši and Manuel Šumberac (cover art)
About the Book
Hà has only ever known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope—toward America. This moving story of one girl’s year of change, dreams, grief, and healing received four starred reviews, including one from Kirkus which proclaimed it “enlightening, poignant, and unexpectedly funny.”
Type of text: novel in verse; realistic fiction; narrative poetry; historical fiction; realistic fiction
About the Creators
Thanhhà Lai (she/her): Born in Vietnam, National Book Award-writer of middle-grade and young adult novels, parent, journalist who was “the first real life Asian any of my classmates or teachers had seen outside of television when I landed in Alabama in the South of the United States at the end of the war in 1975.” She lives in upstate New York with her husband and daughter. Her dog Pico assists her by stepping directly onto the keys of her computer as she types.
Zdenko Baši and Manuel Šumberac are Croatian illustrators who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.
Note: These descriptions include self-identifiers provided directly by the author, illustrator, and/or publisher via email; they also contain information made publicly available (e.g., through professional websites, interviews, etc)
