Robin Smith

Inside Out and Back Again, an autobiographical novel written in verse, captures one year in the life of 10-year-old Kim Hà. Her unforgettable story begins and ends with Tét, the first day of the Vietnamese lunar calendar. It’s February 1975 and Saigon is about to fall.

Hà flees Vietnam with her mother and two brothers, boarding a ship in a nearby port. One poignant poem lists some of what they must leave behind: “Ten gold-rimmed glasses . . . Brother Quant’s report cards . . . Vines of jasmine.” After weeks at sea and a stay in a refugee camp on Guam, Hà’s family ends up in Alabama, where a sponsor is found.

Holding tight to the 10-year-old point of view, first-time author Thanhha Lai draws on memories of her own childhood, when her family fled Vietnam after the war and moved to Alabama. The reader will smell the incense, long for the taste of fresh papaya and feel the rocking of the ship. The difficulty of learning English, coupled with Hà’s desire for perfection, makes assimilation nearly impossible, especially when some of the kids in her class cruelly tease her about her hair, her accent and the flatness of her face. She grows up, tries to learn the art of making do from her mother, and leans on her brothers and her tutor, Mrs. Washington. And she learns to fly-kick like Bruce Lee.

Lai’s spare poetry, full of emotion and infused with humor, is accessible to young children and adults alike. This moving and beautifully told story is a must-read for anyone who works with children new to the country. 

“There are things that happen. Little things that make a difference.” For sixth grader Ella, who lives outside Las Vegas, the little things are everything. Her best girlfriend Millie has abandoned the long-standing threesome of Ella, Zachary (known as Z) and Millie, and now Ella’s life is off balance. Someone has to watch out for Z, whose imaginary life is becoming odder and odder, and that someone is Ella. She and Z spend all their time together—at school, at the library or around the neighborhood—and they are often lost in an elaborate fantasy life filled with knights and ladies.

Ella, the only black student in her school, is the object of teasing and taunting. Her skin tone is uneven, which earns her the cruel nickname “Camo Face.” Her unruly hair invites the boys to throw paper and other detritus at her. The fact that she spends all her time with Z only adds to her exclusion. When handsome, socially savvy black student Bailey arrives at the school, things instantly change for everyone, especially Ella. Her new friendship with Bailey is threatening to Z, and Ella feels forced to choose between her old friend and having a larger social life.

What really struck me about Camo Girl was how real this junior high school world felt. Every character, especially narrator Ella, is intensely self-aware. She notices Millie’s hair, how much Z is eating, the exact location of the mean boys, how to extricate items from her hair without being noticed and how to order the right beverage at the soda shop. She thinks long and hard about why Bailey leaves a basketball in her driveway and is always aware of Z, whether he is at school, the library or at Wal-Mart. The three main characters are all looking for the same thing—a father. And this search leads each to see the world through that gaping hole.

Writer Kekla Magoon, who debuted in 2009 with the award-winning civil rights story The Rock and The River, crafts her second novel so perfectly that the reader clings to Ella’s point of view—and, like Ella, is surprised when all the pieces fall into place.

It’s a good day for new readers when Grace Lin decides to write a book especially for them. And in Ling & Ting we have a story with details that new readers will love—twins, chapters, sunny illustrations and funny, realistic situations.

Twins Ling and Ting look exactly alike until a wiggling Ting causes a sneeze that makes the barber slip with his scissors. Now, people can certainly tell them apart. Six related stories introduce these two sisters, who have their own distinct personalities. When Ling does a card trick, Ting forgets the card she is supposed to remember. Ting’s dumplings are fat and lumpy, while Ling’s are smooth. Ting is adventurous with her chopsticks while Ling wisely uses a fork. Ting checks out the wrong library book for her sister. Each story is a slice of sisterly life filled with two little girls who enjoy each other, no matter what they look like.

There are so many things to like about this sweet offering for beginning readers. The story is constructed carefully so that new readers will have success. Many of the words are sight words and the other words are easily sounded out. Lin has the girls repeat parts of the stories, giving the new reader a way to remember the story while practicing reading new words. The stories are simple and familiar, but not boring. Lin’s whimsical illustrations show two sisters who enjoy each other and are just the kind of friends a first or second grade girl would like to have—kind and adventuresome, with a good sense of humor.

Writing for new readers is much more challenging than it looks, and Grace Lin successfully meets the challenges with a book that’s both readable and fun. Ling and Ting are sure to attract many fans, and we can only hope that the author has more adventures in store for these likable twins!

Caitlin Smith’s unusual world has suddenly become even more confusing. Her older brother has been killed, and she is left to figure out how to go on, helped by her bereft father and a school counselor. The whole community is trying to make sense of the tragedy, but closure, so elusive for everyone, is especially hard for a girl with Asperger’s syndrome.

Caitlin is not good at feelings. She does not want to have friends, mostly because it’s too hard. She’s working to master the concepts that are so important in the real world, words like finesse, closure and empathy. Her brother Devon had always been there to help her decipher the mysteries of normal behavior, like making eye contact. Only Devon could help Caitlin comprehend their mother’s death from cancer. To Kill a Mockingbird was Devon’s favorite movie; he was her Jem and she was his Scout. But, alas, all that is left of Devon after the funeral is the chest he was building for his Eagle Scout project.

Author Kathryn Erskine allows the reader into Caitlin’s highly organized, literal world and captures the overwhelming grief that comes over a town when a child is killed in a school shooting. It takes Caitlin—with her newfound power of empathy and the lessons she learned from Devon—to help her father and her community come to terms with the tragedy and to heal.

This is a gentle book, gripping and poignant, but not manipulative. While middle schoolers are the book’s target audience, folks of all ages will find much to admire in Mockingbird, a story that stayed with this reader long after the final triumphant page.

A trip down memory lane is just the gift for readers who love children’s books. Noted authors Eileen and Jerry Spinelli weave together quotations from a wide variety of children’s books and follow each quote with explanatory information and questions to push the reader forward. Something like a page-a-day calendar, Today I Will also notes the birthdates of many authors and luminaries.

For instance, on October 27, a quote from Theodore by Frank Keating celebrates Teddy Roosevelt’s special day: “It is always better to be an original than an imitation.” The authors follow the quote with seven sentences about being a “one-of-a-kind creation” and a resolution to do something that is “pure me.” On March 2, Dr. Seuss’ birthday, they quote from a book by Kathleen Krull about the beloved author. “Once upon a time, there lived a boy who feasted on books and was wild about animals. . . . All in all, he excelled at fooling around.” Perfect.

The Spinellis must be voracious readers and quotation collectors because the quotes are pulled from many sources. Authors include young adult icons Chris Crutcher and Laurie Halse Anderson; old favorites E.B. White, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Frances Hodgson Burnett; and poets like Naomi Shihab Nye and Helen Frost.

While inspirational, this handsome volume will be appreciated more by readers who want to remember books read long ago and be inspired to find ones missed along the way. I now have a considerable list of books I need to find, all inspired by the Spinellis’ beautiful reflections.

Robin Smith is always on the lookout for new children’s books to share with the second graders in her Nashville classroom.