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_majareads's review against another edition
3.0
Hằng has risked everything to track down the baby brother who was ripped from her arms six years ago… but Linh is no longer a baby, and no longer remembers her. Lại provides piercing insight into the Vietnamese language and culture—and the horrors of a famously bloody conflict—while intertwining multiple narratives, each possessing a distinctive style and diction, with a rare deftness.
liralen's review against another edition
4.0
Lovely and sad and complicated. Hằng is in the US as a refugee from the Vietnam War, and she has one mission and one mission only: find her brother. She's helped, more or less, by LeeRoy, a would-be cowboy. But finding her brother is one thing, and overcoming years of separation is another; and the English language is a stumbling block; and however much progress Hằng makes, she can never get the past back.
The dialogue is tricky at times, but it's really cleverly done, and asks the reader to think. The whole book asks the reader to think, with lighter moments mixed in among the difficulties.
Hằng knows she should be breaking into the sawdust house, sniffing for clues of his past presence. But she is exhausted. Hungry. Mostly desperate. How she despises desperation. When she’s desperate, spiky memories pound her like steel monsoon drops, shattering bones to shoot the unwanted into her marrow where guilt awaits. In this revolting state, her memories always stir up the bottom debris of what she can’t and won’t and hasn’t said out loud. (48)
As a consequence of war, Hằng has accepted that she is allowed only shredded knowledge of her family. (63)
Maybe without war people do flit around fluffy as birds, their wants equal their needs equal their present equals their future. (264)
The dialogue is tricky at times, but it's really cleverly done, and asks the reader to think. The whole book asks the reader to think, with lighter moments mixed in among the difficulties.
Hằng knows she should be breaking into the sawdust house, sniffing for clues of his past presence. But she is exhausted. Hungry. Mostly desperate. How she despises desperation. When she’s desperate, spiky memories pound her like steel monsoon drops, shattering bones to shoot the unwanted into her marrow where guilt awaits. In this revolting state, her memories always stir up the bottom debris of what she can’t and won’t and hasn’t said out loud. (48)
As a consequence of war, Hằng has accepted that she is allowed only shredded knowledge of her family. (63)
Maybe without war people do flit around fluffy as birds, their wants equal their needs equal their present equals their future. (264)
alainajreads's review
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5/5
This is a hopeful story about family set in 1980s Texas in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, an era which I haven’t read much about. Hâng, a Vietnamese refugee, searches for her younger brother Linh, with the help of an unlikely friend, LeeRoy, an aspiring rodeo star.
The rating is as low as it is because the pacing was off (didn’t hold my interest much around the middle) and the writing style were choppy in some places, although I did like the second half of the book more than the first. The last section has some really sweet moments between Hâng and her brother and Hâng and LeeRoy, but also some profound memories of Hâng’s trauma as a war refugee.
This is a hopeful story about family set in 1980s Texas in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, an era which I haven’t read much about. Hâng, a Vietnamese refugee, searches for her younger brother Linh, with the help of an unlikely friend, LeeRoy, an aspiring rodeo star.
The rating is as low as it is because the pacing was off (didn’t hold my interest much around the middle) and the writing style were choppy in some places, although I did like the second half of the book more than the first. The last section has some really sweet moments between Hâng and her brother and Hâng and LeeRoy, but also some profound memories of Hâng’s trauma as a war refugee.
carolyn_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
I have read many books where English is not the main character’s first language, but none have done it so artfully and lyrically as Lai. Imagine having to learn a language so different than yours that you have to break each word down phonetically as if you are a child learning to read again. Lai does this in a lyrical manor that challenged me to slow down and sympathize with Hằng, our narrator as she struggled to be understood in a country where nearly everyone pronounces your name wrong. But beyond that, this story is about family love and the devotion of trying to right a wrong. Six years ago, Hằng’s lied about her and her brother being orphans in a desperate plan to escape to America the last days of the the Việt Nam. Her brother Linh is taken while she is left behind. The only clue she had left of where he was taken was a business card. Now Hằng has traveled from Việt Nam to a Thai refugee camp, all the way to Texas to reunite with her brother. But when Hằng finds her brother, he doesn’t remember her or anything about their life before.
Hằng story is about survival and unconditional love. At times it is heartbreaking because war is ruthless and so incredibly painful to hear about. But stories like these must be told so we can learn from our mistakes and not commit them again. The way Lai balances Hằng’s story is by switching points of view to LeeRoy, a wannabe cowboy who just was too polite to get himself out of Hằng’s lane. LeeRoy is swept up by Hằng’s antics and though they seem to be opposites, LeeRoy is drawn to her determination. Through LeeRoy, Hằng is able to be a teenager again and have a resemblance of normalcy. And their love-hate story is one that you can’t help but laugh and cheer for. At times, the dialogue is corny and the events are predictable, but that can easily be overlooked. Hằng teaches us about expectations and how to move forward even after the brutalist losses.
Hằng story is about survival and unconditional love. At times it is heartbreaking because war is ruthless and so incredibly painful to hear about. But stories like these must be told so we can learn from our mistakes and not commit them again. The way Lai balances Hằng’s story is by switching points of view to LeeRoy, a wannabe cowboy who just was too polite to get himself out of Hằng’s lane. LeeRoy is swept up by Hằng’s antics and though they seem to be opposites, LeeRoy is drawn to her determination. Through LeeRoy, Hằng is able to be a teenager again and have a resemblance of normalcy. And their love-hate story is one that you can’t help but laugh and cheer for. At times, the dialogue is corny and the events are predictable, but that can easily be overlooked. Hằng teaches us about expectations and how to move forward even after the brutalist losses.
palliem's review
3.0
I liked this story, though I found the “cowboy” stuff with LeeRoy a little boring (okay... a lot boring... and I hated his character). I bought this for inclusion in my classroom and I’d be interested to see how my students do with it.
sbnich's review against another edition
4.0
This book was delightful. I suspect some of the grammar nuances and writing quirkiness vanished in the audiobook version because of the first-person telling.
It isn't a perfect book, the plot has some conveniences you are supposed to look around, but the story itself - of two people so dramatically different in the 80s before globalization and the Internet shrunk the world - is poignant and quirky and makes one think about being locked up inside of oneself without an accessible language.
The bigger story, beyond the plot, is what defines a person, a family, a culture? What defines language and how does it define a life?
It isn't a perfect book, the plot has some conveniences you are supposed to look around, but the story itself - of two people so dramatically different in the 80s before globalization and the Internet shrunk the world - is poignant and quirky and makes one think about being locked up inside of oneself without an accessible language.
The bigger story, beyond the plot, is what defines a person, a family, a culture? What defines language and how does it define a life?
mrst's review against another edition
4.0
What a beautiful and tragic and sweet story this is. This story was a great exercise in empathy. I think boys and girls alike will enjoy this story. LeeRoy has an immediate likeability and charm. Hăng is a little more reserved, but readers can tell immediately that she is scarred and has a story to tell. Their friendship is a sweet and fun one. Really enjoyed this book a lot.