INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai

A.R. Book Level: 4.8
A.R. Points: 2.0
Pages: 262

This one was beautifully written—some of the best historical fiction I have in the library.  Ha is a Vietnamese girl who flees her country with her mother and brothers during the Vietnam War and settles down in Alabama.  Life is really difficult for Ha, who got good grades in her old country but seems dumb in her new one because she is only learning to speak English.  She struggles with bullies and prejudice and missing her father, a soldier who disappeared in Vietnam during the war.  This is a novel in verse, meaning that it is written in poems instead of paragraphs, which makes this book quick and satisfying to read!