A Two-Placed Heart

June 17, 2024
In this yearning verse novel by Nguyen (Mèo and Bé), an older sister endeavors to connect her sibling to their Vietnamese heritage. Twelve-year-old Bom is concerned by her younger sister Bo’s fading memories of Vietnam. The siblings communicate in English despite Ba’s scolding and the fact that Má “doesn’t understand/ the English words we use.” Noticing that “my tiêng Viêt disappears/ a little at a time,” Bom wonders “what kind of person doesn’t know/ their own language?” As an aspiring writer, Bom decides to transcribe her
family’s history, addressing her writings to Bo. Bom recalls the hardships her
family endured in Vietnam, describing what she knows of her father’s seven-year imprisonment in 1975 after the Vietnam War, her parents’ subsequent arranged marriage, and her and Bo’s births. She goes on to chronicle their new life in 1996 Tennessee, following their sponsorship from a Nashville Presbyterian church in 1991. Nguyen’s touching fictionalization of personal experiences, as addressed in an author’s note, reflects the push-pull of a young immigrant’s fear that with acclimation comes loss of cultural identity. Includes a pronunciation guide, glossary, and family tree. Ages 9–13. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary.

August 1, 2024
It's 1996, and 12-year-old Bom is caught between two worlds. The Vietnam War had a lasting impact, leaving the country ravaged, so Bom's family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in hopes of a better life. But five years on, Bom is still struggling to fit in. She longs for her relatives in Vietnam and worries that she's losing her "Vietnamese-ness" as her command of her native tongue slips away a little each day. Her younger sister, Bo, doesn't understand her struggle: She's too young to remember their past and declares that she's simply American. To keep their Vietnamese cultural heritage alive, Bom decides to write about their family history on her father's old typewriter. Through captivating free verse, Nguyen paints vivid, immersive scenes in this fictionalized memoir, which spans events from Vietnam in 1975 through the following two decades. The story features a large cast of characters, adding depth through glimpses of other perspectives and experiences. Some of the vignettes and musings wander and repeat, but they feel organic and true to the nature of memories. The author seamlessly captures the rich cultural traditions of Vietnam and the strong bonds and dynamics of large Vietnamese families. Nguyen doesn't shy away from depicting the stark realities of famine, war, immigration, and loss, tempering some of the more heart-wrenching moments with compassion, love, and hope. An emotional journey that beats with an authentic heart. (note to readers, glossary, family tree, author's note)(Verse historical fiction. 9-13)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
In this fictionalized memoir in verse set in 1991, Bom both envies and resents her younger sister Bo's ignorance about their life in Vietnam, before their family immigrated to the United States as refugees five years earlier. Whereas Bo seems comfortably American in their Nashville home, Bom feels torn between two places and cultures. Worse, she worries that she and her sister will forget where they came from. To combat that loss, Bom uses her father's typewriter to compose poems filled with memories and family stories. Nguyen's narrative moves smoothly between Bom's past and present, between Vietnam and the U.S. She depicts a childhood in Vietnam filled with love, family, and community despite the shadows cast by war, political persecution, and poverty. By contrast, the U.S. is foreign and alienating to Bom, who faces racist and xenophobic bullying at school. Nguyen employs evocative language to give voice to Bom's feelings: "I am like a fish on land / thirsting for the water, / with the shoreline out of reach." Spacing and line-formatting choices also emphasize thematic elements such as the weight of psychological distance and the transience of memory. The first-person narration and direct address in the poems create an intimacy between narrator and reader, with the tone varying from explanatory to vulnerable by turns. A heartfelt story about identity and heritage refracted through the lens of a complex sibling relationship. Front matter includes a glossary and a family tree; an author's note is appended. Shenwei Chang

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from August 1, 2024

Gr 4-7-Writing from the perspective of 12-year-old Bom, Nguyen tenderly crafts a lightly fictionalized memoir in verse. It's Nashville in 1996, and Bom can't understand how her little sister Bo considers herself only American, not Vietnamese; she seems to have completely forgotten their life in Vietnam before they immigrated to the U.S. with their parents. In an effort to help her sister understand the split loyalties of herself and her parents, Bom uses her father's old typewriter to write poetry that captures stories from their past. Briefly covering her father's and mother's backgrounds as well as her own growing up, Bom encourages her sister to appreciate their heritage while simultaneously coming to grips with her own shifting identity. Sweet moments of family and friendship alternate with heartbreaking stories of suffering and loss. Bom's adjustment to life in America isn't easy with her introverted, creative nature, different from her sister's bold, brave way of making herself at home anywhere. Prejudice, stereotypes, and bullying come into play as do mentions of war and torture (not graphic in any way, but mentioned). Also included are an author's note, glossary, family tree, and pronunciation guide of Vietnamese terms. VERDICT This highly readable verse memoir beautifully portrays the internal anguish of growing up and adapting to life in a new country.-Heidi Grange

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2024
Grades 4-7 Nguyen recounts her upbringing as a child in Vietnam and immigration to the U.S. in this moving, meditative memoir in verse. In a story told in conversation with her younger sister, who embraces her American identity much more forcefully, Bom reflects on her present (1996) life and memories. Told largely through flashbacks, this thoughtful middle-grade novel offers an opportunity for readers to gain insight into the Vietnamese immigrant experience and the cultural ramifications of the Vietnam War through a kind but struggling narrator using her father's typewriter to capture memories. Her upbringing, her Vietnamese family, and the poverty and pain they escape travels with the narrator to her new country. Bom realizes learning English is a way to take control over her own story. Don't let the cover fool you: this memoir in verse is more direct than a novel might be, but captures broad appeal. For readers of Thanhha Lai's evocative prose and nuanced interplay, highlighting coming of age in different cultures.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2024
In this fictionalized memoir in verse set in 1991, Bom both envies and resents her younger sister Bo's ignorance about their life in Vietnam, before their family immigrated to the United States as refugees five years earlier. Whereas Bo seems comfortably American in their Nashville home, Bom feels torn between two places and cultures. Worse, she worries that she and her sister will forget where they came from. To combat that loss, Bom uses her father's typewriter to compose poems filled with memories and family stories. Nguyen's narrative moves smoothly between Bom's past and present, between Vietnam and the U.S. She depicts a childhood in Vietnam filled with love, family, and community despite the shadows cast by war, political persecution, and poverty. By contrast, the U.S. is foreign and alienating to Bom, who faces racist and xenophobic bullying at school. Nguyen employs evocative language to give voice to Bom's feelings: "I am like a fish on land / thirsting for the water, / with the shoreline out of reach." Spacing and line-formatting choices also emphasize thematic elements such as the weight of psychological distance and the transience of memory. The first-person narration and direct address in the poems create an intimacy between narrator and reader, with the tone varying from explanatory to vulnerable by turns. A heartfelt story about identity and heritage refracted through the lens of a complex sibling relationship. Front matter includes a glossary and a family tree; an author's note is appended.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)