Awards
- Commended for Yalsa Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction for Young Adults 2024
Overview
A moving young adult graphic memoir about a Vietnamese immigrant boy's search for belonging in America, perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and The Best We Could Do! Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam. After the Pham family arrives at a refugee camp in Thailand, they struggle to survive. Things don't get much easier once they resettle in California. And through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity. Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search-- for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream.
Full Product Details
Author: Thien Pham
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Imprint: First Second
Dimensions:
Width: 15.40cm
, Height: 1.70cm
, Length: 21.50cm
Weight: 0.492kg
ISBN: 9781250809728
ISBN 10: 125080972
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 17 July 2023
Recommended Age: From 14 years
Audience:
Young adult
,
Teenage / Young adult
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
"A Junior Library Guild selection ""Pham's extraordinary memoir just might be the toothsome gift we didn't know we needed.""--School Library Journal, starred review ""Pham reflects the push-pull conflict of assimilation and cultural loss as explored through food in digitally illustrated panels portraying visual feasts and expressive emotion, making for a vivid and insightful telling that offers joy and hope amid the terror.""--Publishers Weekly, starred review ""A nuanced and hopeful graphic memoir depicting moments of hardship and joy with sincerity.""--Horn Book ""[A] standout graphic novel""--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"
A Junior Library Guild selection
"A Junior Library Guild selection ""Pham reflects the push-pull conflict of assimilation and cultural loss as explored through food in digitally illustrated panels portraying visual feasts and expressive emotion, making for a vivid and insightful telling that offers joy and hope amid the terror.""--Publishers Weekly, starred review"
Author Information
Thien Pham is a graphic novelist, comic artist, and educator based in Oakland, CA. He is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel Sumo and did the art for the middle-grade graphic novel Level Up, written by Gene Luen Yang. He is an ongoing comic contributor to EaterSF and as such eats. A lot. Follow Thien on Twitter at @CobraTalon, and Instagram at @thiendog
