Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Winner of a National Book Award and a Newbery Honor, Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai (Lexile: NP 800; Interest Level: Grades 3-6) is a story written in verse (thus, the NP, or Non Prose Lexile code).  Ha, the main character, begins her life in Vietnam, but when she is around 10 years old, she must move from Saigon to the United States to escape the war in Vietnam.  Moving to a country where she doesn't know the language or the culture is difficult, and when you add the teasing and bullying she encounters at her new school, Ha wishes she had been able to stay in Vietnam.  The heartfelt writing allows the reader to feel what Ha feels and experience her pain.  Students interested in the time period of the Vietnam War and in relationships between cultures will enjoy this book.  (262 pages)

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