Review: Listen, Slowly

Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Much like Lai's last book, I was captivated by this one. Mai (or Mia in school) is being forced to go to Vietnam with her father and Ba (her grandmother). Ba has been separated from her husband since THE WAR and has finally decided to go back to get closure. A detective has told her that he has had contact with someone connected to her missing grandfather. Mai is not excited about this trip at all. She's supposed to be on the beach with her friend, possibly interacting with the boy she likes (HIM). On the trip, though, she begins to learn more about where she is from, and what's important to her.

I thought Mai was pretty believable, with her devotion to family but also her desire to be on the beach and be a typical American teen. I also understood why she stopped speaking Vietnamese after going to school. Her growing acceptance and discovery of the land her parents came from and the culture she is connected to was believable as well. I think it had just the right amount of references to THE WAR. As an adult, I wished for a bit more about what had been happening in Vietnam, but I think for kids who might not have any background about the Vietnam War at all, it was the right amount. A beautiful story.

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