“Newbery Honor author Lai delivers a funny, realistic tale of family and friendship and culture clashes. A touching tale of preteen angst and translation troubles.” - Kirkus Reviews
Praise for INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN: “An enlightening, poignant and unexpectedly funny novel in verse is rooted in the author’s childhood experiences. In her not-to-be-missed debut, Lai evokes a distinct time and place and presents a complex, realistic heroine whom readers will recognize, even if they haven’t found themselves in a strange new country.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Based in Lai’s personal experience, this first novel captures a child–refugee’s struggle with rare honesty. Written in accessible, short free–verse poems, Hà’s immediate narrative describes her mistakes—both humorous and heartbreaking; and readers will be moved by Hà’s sorrow as they recognize the anguish of being the outcast.” - Booklist (starred review)
“The taut portrayal of Hà’s emotional life is especially poignant as she cycles from feeling smart in Vietnam to struggling in the States, and finally regains academic and social confidence. An incisive portrait of human resilience.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Ha’s voice is full of humor and hope.” - School Library Journal (starred review)
“Open this book, read it slowly to savor the delicious language. This is a book that asks the reader to be careful, to pay attention, to sigh at the end.” - Kathi Appelt, bestselling author of Newbery Honor Book The Underneath
“The sights, smells, and tastes of Vietnam’s cities and villages come alive on the page, without overwhelming a story filled with a summers-worth of touching and hilarious moments, grand adventure, and lazy afternoons. With a contemporary time setting, this compelling novel shows the lingering effects of war through generations and how the secrets our parents keep can shape us.” - School Library Journal (starred review)
“The sights, smells, and tastes of Vietnam’s cities and villages come alive on the page, without overwhelming a story filled with a summers-worth of touching and hilarious moments, grand adventure, and lazy afternoons.” - School Library Journal (starred review)
“Lai inserts Ba’s lyrical voice selectively into Mai’s story. These heart-stopping passages further shift Mai’s position from outsider to insider, to, finally, truly bicultural, just as ‘Listen, Slowly’ invites readers to see Vietnam from the inside out—and back again.” - New York Times Book Review
“This is a love story on many levels, between granddaughter and grandmother, grandmother and grandfather, and for the homeland one carries within. Details Lai plants early on add up to a powerful finish. A beautiful counterpart to Thanhhà Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again.” - Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“Holy cats, I LOVE this book! I loved Mia so much—she’s one of the best characters I’ve read in a while. Sarcastic, smart, and so, so funny. And she brings a wonderful sense of levity to a beautiful, sad story.” - BookRiot.com
“Lai convincingly shows Mai’s slow transformation from spoiled child to someone who can look beyond herself with compassion. Mai’s change of heart is believable, moving in fits and starts and taking its own sweet time; she retains her sarcastic sense of humor, but her snark gradually loses its bite, and she begins laughing at herself more than others. Her strong-willed personality makes her an entertaining narrator; readers will happily travel anywhere with Mai.” - The Horn Book
“Lai convincingly shows Mai’s slow transformation from spoiled child to someone who can look beyond herself with compassion. Her strong-willed personality makes her an entertaining narrator; readers will happily travel anywhere with Mai.” - The Horn Book
The village experience and Mia and her grandmother’s travels in the city offer Lai a way to introduce readers to various aspects of Vietnamese culture with both wry wit and genuine enthusiasm. - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“The village experience and Mia and her grandmother’s travels in the city offer Lai a way to introduce readers to various aspects of Vietnamese culture with both wry wit and genuine enthusiasm. Mai’s surprise at finding a new friend in a difficult cousin, as well as a new perspective on what really matters, is as endearing as it is instructive for readers, and they may be prompted to take more interest in their own family histories.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Through prose so evocative we can feel the heat caressing Mai’s skin as she lands, Lai transports the reader from suburban California to modern-day Vietnam.” - Los Angeles Times
“As she did in her National Book Award-winning Inside Out & Back Again, Lai offers a memorable heroine and cultural journey—ones that are clever near-opposites of those in that book.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“This book is at once funny, thoughtful, and stunningly engaging. I loved, loved, loved it! Can’t wait for my own daughter—and every reader who is lucky enough to get their hands on it—to step inside Mai’s two, very different, worlds.” - Jacqueline Woodson, author of the National Book Award-winning Brown Girl Dreaming
“Newbery Honor author Lai delivers a funny, realistic tale of family and friendship and culture clashes. The subtle humor of clunky translations of Vietnamese into English and vice versa are a great contrast to Mai’s sharp and sometimes-snarky observations that offer a window into Vietnamese village life and language. A touching tale of preteen angst and translation troubles.” - Kirkus Reviews
“Lai does a superb job of creating a memorable setting and populating it with fully developed, complex characters. Gracefully written, Listen, Slowly is a sometimes humorous, always thought-provoking coming-of-age story.” - Booklist (starred review)
“This valentine of a novel may jumpstart questions in young readers about the people and places of their families’ past.” - Washington Post
“Thanhha Lai is so amazing.” - Bustle.com
“In this poignant, funny, and unforgettable novel, Thanhha Lai shares in verse how her family escaped Vietnam before the fall of Saigon. American and Vietnamese characters alike leap to life through the voice and eyes of a ten–year–old girl—a protagonist so strong, loving, and vivid I longed to hand her a wedge of freshly cut papaya. This tenderly told tale transports readers to the time immediately after the Vietnam War and also opens hearts to newcomers displaced by war today.” - Mitali Perkins, author of Bamboo People
“Lai’s spare language captures the sensory disorientation of changing cultures as well as a refugee’s complex emotions and kaleidoscopic loyalties.” - The Horn Book
“In this free-verse narrative, Lai is sparing in her details, painting big pictures with few words and evoking abundant visuals.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Praise for INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN: “An enlightening, poignant and unexpectedly funny novel in verse. In her not-to-be-missed debut, Lai evokes a distinct time and place and presents a complex, realistic heroine.”.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“American and Vietnamese characters alike leap to life through the voice and eyes of a ten–year–old girl—a protagonist so strong, loving, and vivid I longed to hand her a wedge of freshly cut papaya.” - Mitali Perkins, author of Bamboo People
“As she did in her National Book Award-winning Inside Out & Back Again, Lai offers a memorable heroine and cultural journey—ones that are clever near-opposites of those in that book, as Lai trades verse for prose and an immigrant’s story for one of a girl fully immersed in American culture. The story capably stands on its own, yet considered alongside Inside Out, it’s all the more rewarding.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)