My 2016 Read Harder Challenge is going strong! It helps that I follow Book Riot because they practice what they preach. If it weren’t for their regular postings and recommendations, I never would have found this little gem by Thanhha Lai.
It’s a middle-grade novel, and I know I sound like a broken record every time I review a YA or middle-grade novel and say it’s really just about growing up, but it’s true.
Obviously, this book has a cultural element to it as well. The main character is named Mai, but she goes by Mia when she’s in her hometown of Laguna Beach, California. Her parents are both Vietnamese immigrants and the summer before seventh grade Mai is taken on a trip to Vietnam to find her grandfather who disappeared in the Vietnam war. He’s almost certainly dead, but Mai’s grandmother has been in contact with a detective who thinks he may have a lead. Since her parents are the stereotypical Asian doctor and lawyer, Mai is the only one who has the time to take this trip with her grandmother. To say she’s less than thrilled about it is an understatement.
Mai is your typical American twelve-year-old. She’s spoiled and selfish and can’t believe her parents are pulling her out of her home when she has this huge crush that her best friend will flirt with while Mai is gone. As a result, Mai is all about getting this trip over with as quickly as possible so she can get back home, but of course it’s never that simple.
Mai definitely grows as a person throughout the course of the book, but she’s a pretty good kid to start out with. She loves her grandmother dearly and even when her grandmother asks her directly if she wants to go home, Mai knows she can’t let her down. Her grandmother (Bà), has never asked for anything, and as a result, her family, including Mai, can’t deny her anything. This could be Bà’s last chance to see her husband again or finally let him go for good and Mai knows she has no right to interfere with that. Also she’ll get hell from her parents if she tries to return home without fulfilling Bà’s mission.
Having spent her whole life in California, Mai is not prepared for the extreme heat and humidity in Vietnam, not to mention the mosquitos. Her blood is foreign and full of American sugar, which makes it extra delicious to the local mosquitos. It doesn’t help that Mai’s American clothing does absolutely nothing to keep the mosquitos off, unlike the pajamaish silk clothing worn by all the locals.
Watching Mai interact with the locals was pretty entertaining. Like most second-generation immigrants, Mai can understand Vietnamese, but she can’t speak it. Some of the locals can understand at least some English, and when forced to get by on her own, Mai manages pretty well with a combination of hand gestures and what she calls her Tarzan Vietnamese. The description of her translator trying to teach her the different diacritical marks in Vietnamese, how they change the pronunciation and meaning of each word, and Mai’s terrible attempts at Vietnamese pronunciation had me laughing out loud, and it’s a rare book that can make me do that.
One of my favorite things about traveling (and reading) is learning about different cultures and getting other people’s viewpoints and this book does not disappoint. In a culture that is all about respect, Mai watches those around her argue without really arguing and get what they want with a perfectly-turned phrase. It is nothing short of masterful and she vows to learn these skills. In return she tells the Vietnamese girls about how, in America, it’s all about trying to stand out. The girls reasonably point out that if everyone is standing out, then no one is standing out, and even Mai can’t argue with that logic. Mai also teaches the girls about thongs and convinces them all the girls in America wear them and that scene alone is worth the price of this book!
By the time Bà has buried her husband for good (symbolically), they still have two weeks to go until their scheduled flight, Mai’s father has fourteen more patients who have waited a year for him to see them, and getting back to her love triangle no longer seems so important. In fact she’s made a new friend and she’s even learned to haggle like a true Vietnamese. Mai has the chance to request to go home early and she willingly passes it up, like a grownup.
What did you guys read this week? Anything that helped expand your horizons? I want to hear all about it!
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