Inside Out & Back Again / Thanhha Lai / 262 pages

This is an amazing look at what it is like to be a refugee and what it takes to gain acceptance as an immigrant to the United States. Ten year old Ha must flee Saigon as it falls with her 3 brothers and her mother. She eventually winds up in a refugee camp in Guam and then is adopted by a family in Alabama. Lai does a terrific job of relating what Ha must go through to succeed in her new life. The entire book is beautifully written in verse and is a pleasure to read. This would make a great read aloud for a family, classroom or book discussion group. If empathy can make us all better humans, then this book provides that important look at what it feels like to be someone else.