Recommended Age:
10
+
Slowly
About the Book
Twelve-year-old Mai, a Vietnamese-American girl from California, is forced to spend her summer in Vietnam with her grandmother, who is searching for information about her husband who disappeared during the war. As Mai reluctantly engages with her family's past, she begins to understand the lasting impact of the war and the importance of memory and connection. A thoughtful novel about intergenerational trauma and cultural identity.
Content Ratings
💡
Mild Themes
The novel explores the long-term impact of war on families, the difficulty of cultural connection across generations, and the importance of understanding family history; themes are handled with sensitivity and the tone is ultimately hopeful.
⚔️
No Violence
There is no physical violence in the present-day narrative; the lingering trauma of the Vietnam War is discussed but not depicted graphically.
Engagement:
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2015
Page Count:
282
