Inside Out and Back Again

Audiobook performed by Doan Ly


Ha is the 10-year-old daughter of a Vietnamese Navy Officer who has gone missing while on a mission. As the Americans pull out of the war and Saigon is about to fall, Ha and her family escape the country via ship. Eventually they gain a sponsor, and the family tries to start over in the USA, a strange land, where the language, food, customs and religion are all different what they are used to.

This middle-grade novel focusing on the immigrant experience is told entirely in verse, and I applaud Lai for how much she manages to convey in so few words. Ha is a strong little girl, focusing on becoming a star pupil at school (as she had done in Saigon), trying to make friends, to learn the customs and traditions show more of American celebrations like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, trying to NOT get beaten by bullies. Ha watches her mother work a menial job and slowly acknowledge that her husband is likely dead. In one heart-wrenching poem the child admits:
No one would believe me
but at times
I would choose
wartime in Saigon
over
peacetime in Alabama

Still the family perseveres, and makes their way in this new land, celebrating each accomplishment, and giving thanks for the opportunity to succeed. It’s a moving story and wonderfully told. It is at once complex and straightforward, nuanced, and simple.

The author note at the end of the work explains that much of what happens to Ha in the novel actually happened to the author.

The book won the National Book Award, and was also named a Newbery Honor Book.

The audiobook is performed by Doan Ly. She has a wonderful delivery for this book. Great pace and she’s believable as a young girl. I did read at least half the book in text format, however because I was anxious to finish it. show less

I thought Inside Out & Back Again was an incredibly powerful and poignant read. The way Thanhhà Lai uses free verse to tell Hà’s story really lets her emotions shine through in a way that feels raw and real. I was particularly moved by how the book captures the pain and confusion of being uprooted from everything familiar, yet also the quiet strength Hà finds within herself as she learns to navigate her new life.

What really stood out to me was how the story doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of the immigrant experience—things like feeling alienated, struggling with language barriers, and facing prejudice—but it also highlights the small moments of hope and connection that keep Hà going. It felt like a really honest show more portrayal of growing up in a new place while still holding onto the past. Definitely a book I would recommend, especially for anyone looking to understand the complexity of immigration and identity. show less

Inspired by the author’s own childhood, Inside Out & Back Again is a lyrical middle-grade novel in verse. It follows Ha, a 10-year-old girl who flees war-torn Saigon with her family in 1975 and resettles in Alabama. Through free-verse poetry, Ha navigates language barriers, bullying, cultural displacement, and grief—and ultimately finds strength, hope, and identity in her new life. A poignant and beautifully written story of resilience, identity, and belonging in the immigrant experience.
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It's 1975, and Hà lives in Saigon with her mother and brothers. Money is tight, but she is happy with her life there. The impending threat from the Communist regime, however, makes her mother uneasy. Should the family stay, or should they try to make their way out of Vietnam to France, Canada, or America? Eventually, Hà and her family find places on a boat leaving Vietnam on April 29th, the day before the Fall of Saigon. After a difficult voyage and a period of adjustment in a refugee camp, Hà's family is sponsored by a man from Alabama. How will Hà and her family adjust to life in a new country, where the language is strange and difficult and not all of the citizens are welcoming?

As with any verse novel, this is a fast read, even show more with taking time to savor a poetic thought here and there. However, even in this spare, bare-bones format, Hà's personality shines through. She's a little bit spunky, a little bit stubborn, and reminds me a lot of another Newbery Honor-winning heroine -- Ramona Quimby. Hà's struggles with schoolwork, brothers, and schoolyard bullies will resonate with readers, even those who have little knowledge of the politics surrounding the Vietnam War.

So, is this charming book deserving of the honors it has received? Yes, definitely. show less

This novel in verse follow Ha, living in Viet Nam with her family in 1975, after the U.S. pulled out of the war. Her father has been missing since she was a baby, but they still hope for his return. As their poverty increases, her mother decides to move the family to Alabama as refugees.

Ha is a wonderful, reflective character and the narrative progression over the course of one year illustrates first how rich her culture is and her intelligence, before she comes to the U.S. and feels "dumb" not knowing the language. She deals with poverty, being uprooted, school bullies and learning a whole new way of life with spunk and frustration in equal measure. At the same time, I found myself wanting more, somehow. A story that lasted more than a show more year, maybe, or more character development and details that you can't get in verse. But that says more about me as a reader, I think, than it does about the book. This would be an excellent introduction for kids to the time period and the immigrant experience - not too heavy, but certainly universal enough to promote empathy. show less

This was a beautiful book and audiobook; I know it was written as a novel in verse but it didn't sound much different from a regular book; the narrator was wonderful. It's the story of Ha, a young girl who flees Saigon with her mother and three older brothers toward the end of the Vietnam war. The family winds up in Alabama, of all places, where Ha struggles to learn the English language and American culture. The family's sponsor - their "cowboy" - is nice, and a kind neighbor tutors Ha in English. Ha's father has been missing since the beginning of the war, and toward the end of the book, Ha's mother concludes that he will not return, so they have a ceremony for him.

This is a great piece of recent-historical fiction and a portrait of show more the difficulties of immigration and culture clash. Ha encounters racism, ignorance, and bullying, but she also finds a few friends, support from her brothers, and ways to fight back and feel smart. Her new life is filled with both wonders and disappointments big and small (sugary dried mango instead of fresh). show less

I absolutely love this book. I read the whole thing in one sitting. I simply couldn't put it down. Lai tells us about a family from South Vietnam who had to flee to America because of the war and ended up in Alabama. Lai tells an absolutely riveting story with such keen detail that kept me feverishly turning pages.

This story deeply conveys emotion, so much so that her life in peaceful Alabama was just as harrowing as her dangerous escape from Vietnam where she faced starvation or capture. Lai really captures the emotional journey of this family. We get a sense of the family's dignity while suffering so many hardships. You get a sense that the loss of identity is really the hardest part for all of them, but the book leaves you somehow show more knowing without saying that they are each building new identities for themselves whether they know it or not.

I like how Lai conjures a balance of suffering and delight through Ha. She is indignant and sad to leave her home but also relishes in fish sauce and memories of papaya. She copes with the acceptance that her father is gone as she also copes with bullying, but also worries about her hair and her new dress. In this way, Lai manages to make Ha's experiences feel human while making Vietnam seem more like a real place that people call home rather than a one dimensional place in a text book.

Lai's writing style is poetic and vivid and such a pleasure to read. Lai somehow breathes so much feeling and depth into very few words; "We were all afraid to look at Mother." (249). She does this in such a way that no matter what Ha is concerned with whether it be her mother's sadness, her bully, her hair, mastering English, or missing her favorite foods, it seems like such a poetic and poignant struggle and I feel as though I am right there struggling with her.

With this book, Lai brings us into the perspective of refugees. The image of Ha's classmates condescendingly clapping for her knowing her alphabet as she's thinking of the rigorous fractions she had mastered in Vietnam is overwhelmingly powerful. Lai's mission here seems to strike out any pity one might feel for Ha and her family and to remind the reader that refugees are more than their displacement.

At times profoundly sad, overall triumphant and optimistic. Highly recommend. show less