★ 04/24/2023
Pham employs food as a vehicle to chronicle his and his family’s treacherous experience as Vietnamese refugees in this arresting graphic novel memoir, a debut. In the book’s first chapter, a bespectacled adult Pham recalls “my very first memory... from when I was five.” A spread rendered in inky line and muted color washes depicts an overcrowded boat carrying Vietnamese evacuees suffering from thirst, hunger, and fear. When their vessel is beset by pirates, Pham’s parents instruct him to close his eyes; pages of void-like darkness interspersed by red-toned scenes of the pirates’ violent acts follow as Pham’s parents assure him that they’re “right here. It will be okay.” Upon surviving the siege, Pham is given a rice ball, the last of the family’s food: “To this day,” Pham writes, “I can still taste that rice ball.” Subsequent chapters recount the family’s travels from Songkhla refugee camp to San Jose, Calif. 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. Ages 14–up. (June)
An NPR Best Books of 2023
Listed in the Washington Post's "10 Best Graphic Novels of 2023"
A 2023 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild selection
“Packed with life lessons about family, friendship, assimilation and life in San Jose as a refugee, the graphic novel also serves as a love letter to his most memorable meals, from Southeast Asia to Northern California.”—NPR
"Pham deftly draws us into stirring sense memories — not only of place but also taste — using an immersive, autumnal palette." —Washington Post
"Pham’s extraordinary memoir just might be the toothsome gift we didn’t know we needed."—Booklist, 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 delicious series of memories full of hope and human connections despite the hardships of immigrating to a new home."—School Library Journal, starred review
"...a moving, insightful graphic novel memoir that shares the Vietnamese refugee experience through food."—Shelf Awareness, starred review
“In this gorgeous young-adult graphic memoir, Pham tells the story of his family’s resettlement in San Jose through his vivid, emotional food memories.”—The San Francisco Chronicle
"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