Representation: Asian main character, side Latina character
Trigger warnings: Animal death, physical injury, abuse, bruises

7/10, I only just heard of this book not so long ago and I was excited to read this and even though I enjoyed this I just wanted a little more from it and this definitely was kind of a step down from Inside Out and Back Again made by the same author; this was a nice read nonetheless, where do I even begin. It starts off again with the main character Hà who is now twelve since this was set only two years after she fled Vietnam during the Vietnam War and now she and her family are living in Alabama. This is all going to change however as Hà's mother discovered that Texas would leave them better off so they packed their bags and moved there much to her dismay. I feel like after this major event the author just doesn't know what to do after this so the story turned into a long drawn out account of the main character's new life in Texas which stretched across most of the book. Hà soon adjusts to living in this new place and makes a new friend in the process called Diggy though I was kind of sad that I wouldn't be seeing Pam again, then again I could only connect to Hà and not the rest of the characters so there's that. I still liked the writing style though, only few books I know have done this and on a positive note the author pulled that off successfully. ( )

This book is the sequel to Inside Out and Back Again, which is one of my all time favorite titles to read in my 7th grade English class. Ha's thoughtful and hilarious observations, quips, and poetic storytelling continue in this book with the same prose poems by Thanhha Lai. In this part of the story, Ha is more verbose, adding more detail and more poetry to her observations and anecdotes, which the author says reflects that Ha is acquiring more English and also reflects the author's opinion that "To me, English is so wordy." Lai weaves together Vietnamese and English in the stories and in the style by which her characters describe their lives and experiences in their second year after arriving as refugees in the United States, which includes a move from Alabama to Texas for more work opportunities for her family. We hear about Ha's adjustments to life in junior high and her struggles to find friends and fit in, while also tracking the different paths her mother and brothers take as they continue to build their futures in the United States. The sequel does not include quite as many laugh out loud observations about the struggles of learning English or adjusting to new people, places, and culture, but adds to the story in a heartwarming way. ( )

Set two years after Inside Out & Back Again, When Clouds Touch Us continues the story of Ha and her family: one brother is living independently, the other two are at home. Ha raises orchids, while her brother raises Siamese Fighting Fish. But Ha's mother decides to take a job in Texas, moving the family from where they've settled in Alabama. Ha is crushed and angry at having to leave her best friend, school, and neighbor, but goes along because she has no choice, and with some understanding of what her mother has gone through and what she is ultimately trying to do for her children.

Quotes

Mother often says,
Unfairness now
will turn fair elsewhere;
life has a way of balancing. (42)

Instead I chose you children,
vowing to educate
your minds and hearts
so you would know the result
of your every action. (175)

Last words:
everyone in junior high
suffers from nerves
of a plucked guitar;
a few hide it better. (179)

I relinquish you
to a world
unknown to me. (242) ( )

First sentence: First refugee year
I didn't know to ask
for a day-of-birth party.
Last year Mother reminded us
all Vietnamese gain an age
together at Tet.
Our flip of the lunar calendar
was celebrated back home
as if combining Christmas,
western New Year's,
Thanksgiving, July 4th,
plus millions of days of birth.
This year,
Pam and I, April babies,
will invite twenty friends
to a rolling-shoe party
like Amy's last autumn.
I vow fewer
purple quail eggs
on my swollen knees
while Pam plots around
her religion's no-music rule.
Pam insists on April 10th,
my day, not hers,
to mark my first party.
So like her.
We were each
a maple seed,
spinning unclaimed
until we rooted
as best friends.

Premise/plot: When Clouds Touch Us is the sequel to Inside Out and Back Again (2011), a Newbery Honor book. Hà, our heroine, is settling into Alabama and loving life (mostly) with her best friend. But all is upended when her mother decides to move the family to Texas for better employment opportunities. Hà is crushed. Making friends--or a friend--and settling down in school wasn't easy in Alabama a year (or so) ago, and she fears that Texas will prove equally difficult. This verse novel follows Hà and her family for about a year--give or take a month.

My thoughts: Is it easier to move from Alabama to Texas than to move across the world from Vietnam to the United States? Maybe. Maybe not. Both books are coming of age novels written in verse. Both capture the uncertainty of her life and complexity of emotions. Both books are set in the 1970s. I have not read the first book since 2012 when I initially reviewed it. I am relying on my review of the first book to help me out here. I have, of course, just read the second book.

I wish I'd taken the time to reread the first book. (But I didn't). I liked the second book. I don't know that I loved it. I think the potential for love might have been there if I'd read the books back to back. If I was more invested in this family and their story. ( )