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The Best We Could Do

Thi Bui

Discussion: 2017 Read Harder Challenge

Why we're reading this: Bui's family escaped to the US by boat after the Vietnam War. This beautiful graphic memoir relates their…more
[close] Bui's family escaped to the US by boat after the Vietnam War. This beautiful graphic memoir relates their life before the war and their perilous journey to safety.

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2017 Read Harder Challenge

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What Members Thought

Jul 24, 2017 Abby Johnson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: author-of-color, diverse, grownup_books, teen, graphic_novel, memoir

This phenomenal graphic memoir was a great start to my 2018 reading year. Author Thi Bui, born in Vietnam and fleeing to the United States as a small child with her family, tells the story of her parents, their life in wartime Vietnam and their subsequent immigration to the United States. Bui examines how events in her parents' pasts have shaped who they are and who she turned out to be, issues she's reflecting on since she is now a parent herself.

Bui's mother fled a newly Communist South Vietn ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 29, 2020 Ashley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fun, graphic-novels

What a beautiful, moving story about family history and big, national history. The art was just wonderful and really augmented the story. It gave me a lot to think about, both in terms of what I know about the war in Vietnam and in terms of personal connections and family ties. Well worth the read.

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 05, 2018 Alvin rated it it was ok

This was so bittersweet, as many immigrant stories are. We are the product of our histories and I appreciated the way in which the refugee experience was represented.

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 05, 2020 Talia rated it really liked it

Shelves: graphic-novel, memoirs, readharder2020

Book Riot Read Harder 2020: Read a Graphic Memoir

This story details the author's (and her parents') lives as they grow up in Vietnam and migrate in the midst of the Vietnam War. This has been on my radar ever since it's publication, and I'm glad I finally pushed myself to get it and read it. I appreciate the author's messy and complicated portrayal of the war, how it wasn't a simple "good guys vs bad guys", and now I want to learn more about the Vietnam War. I also loved the theme of generationa ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 14, 2017 Kate McCartney rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017, personal-reading-challenge-2017, graphic-novels, memoir

Wow! What an incredible book. The art is gorgeous and the story so memorizing. I knew next to nothing about Viet Nam before reading this or the experience of the refugees. This is a book everyone should read.

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Jul 05, 2020 Erin rated it really liked it

2020 Read Harder Challenge - Read a graphic memoir

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Aug 11, 2019 Heather rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-to-read, graphic-memoir

Worth reading. I rarely pick up graphic novels/memoirs, but those few that I’ve read are so well done and bring a different dimension with the drawing / art.

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