Brave new world

I picked the right book to help me realise that the flu isn’t the worst thing that can happen to one.

Feeling kind of down, could be the flu. It’s been doing the rounds. My sister is down with it and a mighty ruckus she makes. Thanks to her, I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in ages. Anyway, this evening, after dinner I snuck out of the house and wandered off. I was not really in the mood to read a book (that’s how unwell I am).

I saw a window open and curiosity got the better of me. I peeked in and oh my! I saw the most glorious collection of books. My heart was beating so fast I could hear it in my head. In one quick move, I jumped in and rushed to the bookshelf. I was lucky there was no one in the room. There were shelves all around the room and comfortable chairs and sofas placed any and everywhere.

I picked a book. Inside Out & Back Again! by Thanhha Lai. Hmmm. What I found intriguing was the whole story was written in verse…free verse, it said. I thought I’d give it a try. It had won the US National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2011 and a Newbery Honour.

It seemed like a quick read. The story is set in Saigon, Vietnam, and tells the story of 10-year-old Há and how she has to leave behind everything that is familiar — the markets, traditions, festivities, the warmth of family and friends. Why? Because of the Vietnam War. When the war reaches her doorstep, the family has to run away. But, her father is away fighting and no one has any information about him.

Father left home

on a Navy mission

on this day

nine years ago

when I was almost one.

He was captured

on Route 1

an hour south of the city

by moped.

That’s all we know.

Far away from home

Há and her family are evacuated and, on April 30, her family and she escape on a navy ship that arrives in Guam on May 28, where they are sheltered in a refugee camp. On July 4, refugees are asked to write where they want to go. Há’s mother chooses France because she has a cousin there but the person behind her advises her to write ‘United States’, as her children will get a government scholarship if they are smart.

The journey to the U.S. on a refugee ship is hard. When they finally arrive, everything is so different, so strange. How will they manage?

The Vietnam War was fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam between November 1, 1955, to April 30, 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars.