This is a review of a middle-grade novel by a first time novelist. It is not a book about or related to autism, but in my opinion definitely worth a read! All children (or former children–now adults) who have struggled to fit in will be able to related to this ten-year-old protagonist.
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai was the winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, and a Newberry Honor Book. This is Lai’s first novel and based upon her personal experiences making it rich in poignant, honest details.
The story is about a 10-year-old girl, Hà, who flees Vietnam with her family to America. Lai illustrates Hà’s struggles to fit in, and get acclimated to a new country, a new people and a new world.
Being different and being bullied in school is something many readers can relate to on some level. Many of this young Vietnamese girl’s experiences, such as being different, school mishaps, and making social blunders will mirror some of the experiences we’ve all had growing up when children were mean, and we made “mistakes”—like Hà, both humorous, and heart-breaking. Lai’s unique style, writing her entire novel in short-verse poems makes it easy to read and gives the novel a certain pace, a cadence which helps keeps it moving.
The author captures the vivid world of this 10-year-old refugee. She lifts you out of the everyday and into the world of this girl, who has had her life turned upside down through the relocation of her family to the southern United States.
The story is told in a series of journal-type entries, but does not fail to capture each of the characters personalities. Each character takes on a life of their own on the pages even though the author’s words are few.
This is an easy quick read, as it is a Middle-grade novel, but I loved the read. Ha is a relatable character, and although this books is NOT about autism I can see some of my childhood struggles in Ha’s experiences. She was from another country, spoke another language, had strange customs, and did not relate to or fit in with her peers, which sounds very much like growing up with undiagnosed autism. It often felt as if I spoke a language that no-one else understood. Or rather, everyone else spoke a language I did not understand.
I am beginning to read Inside Out & Back Again to my children.
