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Inside Out And Back Again By Thanhha Lai

911 Words4 Pages

As night fell, the house shook as bombs exploded into the starry night sky. The book Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, reveals the story of a young girl named Ha. Ha lives with her Mother and three brothers in Saigon, Vietnam in 1975 during the Vietnam war. Ha and her family are affected emotionally and physically by the life they are forced to live during the war.
Furthermore, Ha indicates her traits as the book progresses. Explained in the poem, 1975: Year of the Cat, Ha tells about a holiday her and her family celebrate. Tet is the celebration of New Years in Vietnam. “But last night I pouted when Mother insisted one of my brothers must rise first this morning to bless our house because only male feet can bring luck. I decided to wake …show more content…

As tradition, Ha’s family always has her older brother touch the floor first because “only male feet can bring luck’’. Though Ha’s family wants to continue their tradition, Ha does not, so she touches the floor fist. The poem Kim Ha, explains the relationships that Ha has with her family. “Mother tells, They tease you because they adore you. She’s wrong, but I still love being near her” (6). Ha and her mother share a close relationship. When Ha explains how she loves being near her mother, this demonstrates that Ha looks up to her mother. Lai explains in the poem, Inside Out, “Maybe the soldiers will no longer patrol our neighborhood, maybe I can jump rope after dark, maybe the whistles that tell mother to push us under the bed will stop screeching” (4). Ha becomes hopeful when hearing that the I Ching Teller of Fate

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