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shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
I really liked this memoir by a Hmong woman who came to the US as a 6 year old refugee in 1987. Most of Yang's large extended family ended up in the US when Thailand closed its refugee camps. Her story begins in Laos and Thailand when her family was fleeing the war, living in hiding and eventually in the camp. Her descriptions of the Hmong culture and trying to integrate into American culture are fascinating and inspirational. Yang was particularly close to her grandmother who lived into her nineties. At her funeral there were 300 descendants/relatives in attendance. If you've been a refugee or worked with refugees or just like to increase your understanding of your neighbors, you will appreciate this book.
bsmorris's review against another edition
5.0
Yang's work is so important in teaching about the Hmong people, their role as American allies in the Vietnam War, and what they've endured to come to the US and build new lives. Her skillful storytelling brings what is often just a footnote in history vividly to life and demonstrates the importance of love in helping people overcome terrible hardship and attempted genocide. It also offers a window into the lives of refugees in the US - how they got here and the obstacles they face as they work for better lives for themselves and their children. Yang has also published a number of children's books and memoirs of her father and mother, so I'll definitely be looking up more of her work.
tittypete's review against another edition
1.0
I got this book because I googled “good books about Minnesota.” I was familiar with Hmong folks from growing up so this seemed interesting. This book touches on the history of these people but is mostly a glossing-over of the interesting stuff and then ends on a protracted description of the family matriarch’s death and funeral. Didn’t love it.
amyinthewind's review against another edition
5.0
Waiting until after the book club meeting to write a review...
laurenrdsteis's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for a book group and thoroughly appreciated it. I doubt that I would have picked this book to read on my own, because I tend to prefer fiction to nonfiction, but I am glad I read it because it forced me to step out of my comfort zone and broaden my book horizons. Not only was it well written and thought provoking but it did genuinely make me see things through another persons point of view. Eye opening and emotional from start to finish.
caseyulrich555's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written story that speaks to the Hmong experience but also pulls at the heart strings and reminds us of our common humanity. Love and struggle, nature and change are all beautifully woven throughout the story in a way that helps the reader feel connected with the story. Humbling and worth the read!
tordoffgrace's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
5.0
bookherd's review against another edition
5.0
I'm bowled over by the beauty of this memoir. Kao Kalia Yang writes the history of her family with such simplicity, but it's a story of hardship and endurance at least as much as a story of family love. These two sentences, from near the end of the book, bring to bear much of the emotional weight of the story: "My grandmother's death (in 2003) was the first natural death in our family since 1975. It was the outcome we had been struggling so long for: a chance to die naturally, of old age, after a full life." Tales of genocide in Laos and overcrowding in the refugee camp in Thailand to grinding poverty in the United States are stark, but they are told with such love for the people in them, even people the author knew only through the stories heard from others, that they shine.