Inside Out & Back Again

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lai, Thanhha. 2011. Inside Out & Back Again. NewYork: Harper Collins. ISBN  978-0-06-196278-3

PLOT SUMMARY

Lai tells the story of young Ha, as she escapes South Vietnam, when war hits close to home. Her father had been missing for nine years, after being captured while on a Navy mission. Before the fall of Saigon, her mother decides they should leave home. Ha and her brother don’t want to leave, but finally agree when her mother refuses to split up the family. While fleeing their homeland by boat, they are rescued by an American ship and finally escape. They are taken to Guam, and they must decide where to go next. Without a lot of options, they choose America. After finally getting a sponsor for their family, they end up in Alabama. Ha tries to fit in by learning English and trying new things, but finds that not everyone is willing to accept her. As she tries to find a new normal for her life, she finally learns the fate of her father. Her life will never be the same.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Lai uses free verse as she relates Ha’s experiences through this collection of narrative poems. Her prose is written in stanzas which help the reader follow the changes in thoughts and conflicts throughout the text. The poems are organized into sections that closely follow the major changes in Ha’s life. The rhythm in some of the lines matches with the intensity of the text, as seen when she is being chased by the Pink Boy. Lai utilizes short line length to resemble Ha’s hurried escape. Pancake Face’s short lines resemble the rhythmic sniffling when someone is crying and trying to talk. Ha says, “A pancake/is/very/very/flat.” The abruptness of each lines shows Ha’s emotional state as she emphasizes each word.

You can see the transformation of Ha as the tone changes throughout the prose. Lai includes sensory language throughout the book. For example, “I chew each grain s-l-o-w-l-y.” Her use of similes and metaphors are humorous as she compares herself to a baby hippopotamus. She describes, “a seed like a fish eye/slippery shiny black. Her descriptive writing creates a picture in the reader’s mind.” Her verse titled Birthday Wishes uses repetition, as each stanzas focuses on things Ha wishes for her birthday; each stanza starts with “Wish.” Lai uses different font to represent Ha’s thoughts and dialogue between the characters. Lai also uses bold type and exclamation marks to emphasize Ha’s feelings as she declares her hate for everyone.

While the text is mostly serious, there is a strength of character that the reader can see when against her mother’s warning, Ha steps foot on the floor the morning of the new year, instead of waiting for the oldest male in the family to touch the floor first. Later Ha says, “I hate being told I can’t do something because I’m a girl!” From the prose, the reader can tell that Ha doesn’t want to follow the traditional roles of women in her culture.

With One Mat Each,  Lai creates vivid imagery as she writes, “The pile of bodies that keep crawling on/Like raging ants/From a disrupted nest.” She describes their “cowboy” sponsor as looking like an American should. She details him as being, “Tall and pig-bellied/black cowboy hat/tan cowboy boots/cigar smoking/teeth shining/red in face/golden in hair.” She uses metaphors to describe her feelings. In Sadder Laugh, Ha notes that she wakes up with “dragonflies zipping through her gut” as she worries about starting her new school. One kid begins picking on her and they call her racial names such as “Ching Chong.” Everyone assumes she is uneducated, not understanding that she just can’t express herself due to the language barrier. Ha says, “So this is/What dumb/Feels like.” Lai’s word choice adds a personal element that evokes feelings of sadness in the reader. She incorporates her native language within her writing, which reminds the reader of her struggle to find herself in her new home.

This collection would be better suited for older readers due to some of the content and the length.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

National Book Award Winner

Newbery Honor Book

 -A starred review in Horn Book Guide: “Recounting events that resemble her own family's 1975 flight from Saigon, Lai pens a novel in vividly imagined verse.”

 -A starred review in School Library Journal:  “Even through her frustration with her new life and the annoyances of her three older brothers, her voice is full of humor and hope.”

-Jennifer Rothschild

CONNECTIONS

*Students will read other novels in verse. Students can then take a short fiction text and turn it into a poem.

*Other novels in verse:

Bodger, Holly. 5 to 1. ISBN 9780385391542

Howe, James. Addie on the Inside. ISBN 9781442423817