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What Members Thought
This was really charming, and would be a perfect introduction to modern Viet Nam for tween readers. Mai is your stereotypical American girl, sassy and wrapped up in her personal dramas at first, but also a dedicated daughter and grand daughter. There’s a lot of food mentioned - Mai is almost always either eating or hungry or sick. (CW the cover art depicts a scene right before Mai stupidly falls into a pond and ends up with a parasite infection from the water AND a nasty huge leech on her leg an
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3 1/2 stars.
I loved the premise--Mai (Mia) accompanying her Ba to Vietnam to uncover the truth about what happened to her grandfather during the war. This mystery gets a little slow in the middle and Mia's self-absorbed California girl attitude gets a little annoying, however the exciting adventure of living in a new country help pick it up. Lulu Lam's audio reading was excellent, helping me to understand the nuances of the Vietnamese language that is a central part of the story. ...more
I loved the premise--Mai (Mia) accompanying her Ba to Vietnam to uncover the truth about what happened to her grandfather during the war. This mystery gets a little slow in the middle and Mia's self-absorbed California girl attitude gets a little annoying, however the exciting adventure of living in a new country help pick it up. Lulu Lam's audio reading was excellent, helping me to understand the nuances of the Vietnamese language that is a central part of the story. ...more
Experience the sights, sounds, and - oh my - tastes of Viet Nam as Vietnamese-American 12-year-old Mai accompanies her grandmother on a pilgrimage to her hometown. Ba is on a quest to investigate whether her beloved husband, MIA after the Vietnam War, could possibly still be alive. At first, Mai doesn't want to leave her friends for the summer and she schemes to get sent back to California as soon as possible. Over time, Mai grows to love Viet Nam and becomes interested in learning more about th
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totally enchanting
I really enjoyed this. Very nice look for kids of a different country and different customs. I listened to it as an audiobook, which was great to her the language and pronunciations.
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2016 - Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2016 - Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia
Feb 02, 2015
Lua
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Feb 02, 2015
Melle
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Apr 20, 2015
Emily
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Jul 12, 2015
Lynne
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Sep 05, 2015
Mandy
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Nov 03, 2015
Kirstin
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Sep 01, 2016
Kate
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Jan 02, 2017
CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph
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Sep 16, 2017
Martha
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Nov 01, 2017
Celeste
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Mar 26, 2018
Maggie
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Mar 31, 2018
Jody Rowan
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Jul 05, 2019
Meghan
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