Novel Guide • Student Edition • Grade 6

Inside Out & Back Again

by Thanhha Lai

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Part 1: Introduction

Inside Out & Back Againby Thanhha Lai

HarperCollins e-booksEPub Edition © January 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-206972-6

About the story

Inside Out & Back Again tells the story of Hà, a ten-year-old girl who must flee Saigon with her family during the Vietnam War and seek refuge in the United States. Debut author Thanhha Lai based Hà’s story on her own childhood experiences and wrote the book as a series of first-person verse poems, each 1–3 pages in length, that span the course of a single year. In Hà, Lai has created an original voice that a Kirkus reviewer described as “enlightening, poignant and unexpectedly funny.” Inside Out & Back Again is a Newbery Honor book, a National Book Award winner, and a New York Times bestseller.

About the author

Thanhha Lai was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 1965 and immigrated to Alabama as a young girl. In 2011, she won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and in 2012 she received a Newbery Honor for Inside Out & Back Again. In 2015, she published Listen, Slowly, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. She lives in New York with her family. You can hear her pronounceher name here: https://www.teachingbooks.net/pronounce. cgi?aid=15573

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Part 2: Text Excerpt and Close Reading ActivitiesPart I: Saigon“Papaya Tree”

It grew from a seed I flicked intothe back garden.

A seed like a fish eye, slippery shiny black.

The tree has grown twice as tallas I standon tippy toes.

Brother Khôi spotted the first white blossom. Four years older,he can see higher.

Brother V later found a baby papayathe size of a fist clinging to the trunk.

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At eighteen,he can see that much higher.

Brother Quang is oldest,twenty-one and studying engineering.Who knows what he will notice before me?

I vowto rise first every morning to stare at the dewon the green fruit shaped like a lightbulb.

I will be the firstto witness its ripening.

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Step 1: Close Reading Activity

1. In one color, highlight the places where the author uses figurative language to describe the appearance of something.

2. Annotate each highlighted description with a note about the feelings or ideas that the language brings to mind for you.

3. In a second color, highlight any language that communicates ideas about how the papaya tree is changing and growing.

4. In a third color, highlight any language that communicates ideas about how people change and grow.

5. With a partner, create a list of 2–3 themes (central ideas) that are developing in this chapter. Choose the theme that seems most important and explain how it is developed in this chapter. Then make a prediction about how this theme may evolve in the story.

Step 2: Connected Excerpts to Continue Close Reading

Continue your work with theme in the chapters that mention papayas. Use the same steps as above when close-reading these pages. When you get to steps 3 and 4, you can substituteother ideas (like “love” or “home”) if they feel more relevant in those moments than “change”

or “growth.”

Part 1, “Kim Hà”: Hà is tormented by her brothers.

Part 1, “Sssshhhhhhh”: Brother Khôi tells Hà that he must protect his chick and she must protect her papayas.

Part 1, “Wet and Crying”: The family decides to harvest an underripe papaya before they

leave. Part 2, “Rations”: Hà thinks of papayas while she eats plain rice.

Part 3, “Can’t Help”: Hà compares her yearning for papayas to Mother’s yearning for Father.

Part 3, “War and Peace”: Miss Scott shows the class pictures from war-torn Vietnam.

Part 3, “MiSSSisss WaSShington’s Response”: Miss Washington shows Hà pictures that her son took in Vietnam.

Part 3, “Not the Same”: Miss Washington gives Hà dried papaya for Christmas.

Part 3, “But Not Bad”: Hà tries the dried papaya after it has soaked in water.

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Step 3: Writing Prompt

The word "papaya" occurs over 15 times in Inside Out & Back Again. Why are papayas so important to Hà? What do they represent for her? Choose at least three chapters that include the word “papaya” and that relate to a single theme. Discuss how the author develops this theme over the course of the book, and in these chapters in particular

Part 3: Additional Guiding Questions and Projects.

Step 4: Guiding Questions to Read the Whole Book

Part 1: Saigon

1. In “1975: Year of the Cat” (the first chapter in the book), what clues offer hints about the narrator’s character traits?

2. What clues in “Kim Hà” offer hints about the relationships that the narrator, Hà, has with her brothers and mother?

3. These three back-to-back chapters offer insight into how Hà’s mother’s life has changed since losing her husband: “Missing in Action,” “Mother’s Days,” and “Eggs.” What challenges does she face?

4. In “Unknown Father,” how does Hà feel about not knowing her father? How can you tell?

5. These two back-to-back chapters offer insight into the conflict in Vietnam: “TV News” and “Birthday.” How serious does the conflict seem to be?

6. In “Bridge to the Sea,” what plan does Uncle S n share with Hà’s mother?

7. The narrator in "Sssshhhhhhh," "Quiet Decision," and "Should We?" includes details that show how each of her brothers and their mother feel about leaving. What is each character’s point of view about this decision?

Part 2: At Sea

1. What are the living conditions on the ship like for Hà’s family in the first four chapters of Part 2—”Floating,” “S-l-o-w-l-y,” “Rations,” and “Routine”?

2. In “Brother Khôi’s Secret,” what do you learn that Brother Khôi has been hiding? And what does Hà do in “Last Respects” to make him feel better?

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3. Why does Hà pluck one hair from the man’s arm in “Golden Fuzz”?

4. What are the living conditions like for Hà’s family in Guam according to these three chapters in Part 2—”Tent City,” “Life in Waiting,” and “N c M m”?

5. Summarize the major events in the last four chapters of Part 2—”Choose,” “Another Tent City,” “Alabama,” and “Our Cowboy.” Where is the family going next, and how did they end up going there?

Part 3: Alabama

1. What clues in “Unpack and Repack” and “English Above All” offer hints about how the cowboy’s wife feels about Hà’s family?

2. Why does English seem like such a strange language to Hà?

3. Besides not knowing the language, why does Hà feel out of place at school?

4. How do Hà’s brothers help her after her classmates at school start tormenting her?

5. How does Hà’s family’s relationship with the neighborhood evolve, and what causes it to change?

6. What qualities make Miss Washington such a good tutor for Hà?

Part 4: From Now On

1. What makes Hà’s mother accept that their father has really gone? How does this change the family?

2. How has Hà changed since her first days living in Alabama? How can you tell?

Step 5: Extended Discussion Questions

1. In Part 2, Hà makes a sacrifice after her brother loses something important to him. Why do you think she does this? What message was she communicating without using words? How do you think this made her brother feel?

2. In Part 3, Hà is teased and bullied by her classmates. What different kinds of strategies did Hà use in response? Which ones seemed most effective?

3. In Part 3, Hà makes some friends. What do you notice about the friendships that Hà builds with Pam and Steven? What kinds of actions do they take to support one another?

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Step 6: Writer’s Craft

Poetic Imagery

In an interview at the end of the book, Thanhha Lai explains why she told Hà’s story in free verse poetry: “One day I just started jotting down exactly what Hà would be feeling, lonely and angry on the playground. The words came out in quick, sharp phrases that captured her feelings in crisp images. These phrases reflected what Vietnamese sounded like. Remember, Hà was thinking in Vietnamese because she hadn’t learned English yet. Then I knew I would be able to penetrate her mind by writing in phrases choked with visuals.”

Lai uses many visual images that communicate important information about plot and characters without long explanations.

Example 1

Part 3, “Unpack and Repack”:

• “One look at / our cowboy’s wife, / arms, lips, eyes / contorted into knots, / and we repack.” (17–21)

» Lai’s description of the wife’s body language shows the reader that she is unhappy that her husband has invited Hà’s family to live with them. Lai does not include any dialogue or explanations of what the wife says, why she says it, or how the cowboy and Hà’s family respond. She simply ends that chapter with the phrase “we repack” and begins the next chapter, “English Above All,” with a clue that the family has been moved to the basement:

“We sit and sleep in the lowest level / of our cowboy’s house, / where we never see / the wife” (1–4).

Example 2

Part 3, “Rainbow”:

• “Fire hair on skin dotted with spots. / Fuzzy dark hair on skin shiny as lacquer. / Hair the color of root on milky skin. / Lots of braids on milk chocolate. / White hair on a pink boy. / Honey hair with orange ribbons on see-through skin. / Hair with barrettes in all colors on bronze bread. / I’m the only / straight black hair / on olive skin” (6–15).

» By describing the physical appearances of Hà’s classmates and then Hà’s own physical appearance, Lai communicates how different and out-of-place Hà feels. Lai does not include any internal monologue or explanations of what Hà is thinking or feeling. By simply pointing out the differences, the reader can imagine Hà’s loneliness and isolation. Also, by including such precise descriptions of the classmates’ skin and hair, Lai makes it clear that Hà has never before seen people who look so different from her.

Find three other places where Lai uses visual imagery to communicate important information about plot and characters without long explanations. Underline these moments and annotate them with notes about what they reveal.

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Part 4: Final Projects

Step 7: Writing PromptInside Out & Back Again begins and ends on Tết. Though the events of the story take place in just one year, the main characters’ lives are profoundly changed during that time. In your opinion, does the book have a happy ending? Use evidence from at least three different chapters to support your answer.

Step 8: Final Project

Thanhha Lai based Inside Out & Back Again on her own experiences fleeing Vietnam as a refugee when she was a child. In the dedication at the beginning of her book, Thanhha Lai writes: “To the millions of refugees in the world, may you each find a home.”

Visit https:// www.unhcr.org/en-us/teaching-about-refugees.html, a learning resource created by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

1. Go to the “Words matter” section of the site and watch the videos titled “Refugees,” “Migrants,” “Where do refugees come from?,” “Where do refugees go?,” and “Refugee rights.” Take notes about the following topics:

• The meaning of the word “refugee,” and how its meaning differs from the word “migrant”

• Which countries the majority of refugees worldwide come from

• What options are available to refugees once they have fled their home country

2. Go to the “Facts and figures about refugees” section of the site and use the resources there to expand on your notes.

3. With a group, choose one of the videos in the “Words matter” section and download the discussion guide. Discuss the questions with the group.

4. Now that you are more of an expert on the plight of refugees, reread the following chapters in Inside Out & Back Again: Part 1, “Early Monsoon,” “The President Resigns,” Left Behind,” “In the Dark,” and “Saigon is Gone”; Part 2, “One Engine,” “Tent City,” and “Another Tent City.” Discuss with your group: What details stand out on your second reading? In what ways does Hà’s family seem lucky? What kinds of supports werethey offered by various people and organizations? Why do you think these people and organizations were willing to offer these supports?

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5. Optional: Visit http:// www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/lastdays/ firstdaysstoryproject, a collection of interviews and photographs that communicate the individual experiences of many Vietnamese refugees who fled Vietnam at the same time as author Thanhha Lai. Choose one of the stories and compare and contrast it with Hà’s experiences in Inside Out & Back Again. Present your findings to your group or to the class.

Step 9: Challenge

Richard Blanco is a renowned presidential inaugural poet who immigrated to the United States as an infant when his family was exiled from Cuba. His poem “América” was included by the Poetry Foundation in a collection of poems that tell the stories of immigrants, refugees, and people who have been exiled from their homes. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ collections/144265/poems-on-immigration

1. Read the poem a few times. With each reading, annotate the details that stand out to you.

• In your first reading, make observations.

» What words or phrases catch your eye? Why?

» Does the poem tell a “story,” or is it perhaps more like a picture?

• In your second reading, think about structure and form.

» How does the poem look on the page? Is it boxy? Skinny? Regular? Irregular? Why do you think the poet wrote it this way?

» When you read the poem aloud, do you notice any rhythm or rhyme?

• In your third reading, think about how this poem relates to history and/or current events.

» Are there any historical, political, or cultural allusions (references) you can identify?

» Can you identify the perspective of the poem’s speaker (the “narrator” of the poem)?

• In your fourth reading, listen to and enjoy the language.

» What sounds do you hear in the poem?

» What images or scenes does the poem’s language help you to see?

2.Next, reread the chapters in Inside Out & Back Again that contrast the kinds of foods Hà and her family enjoyed eating in Vietnam with the kinds of foods they eat in Guam and in Alabama: Part 1, “A Day Downtown”; Part 2, “Tent City,” “N c M m”; Part 3, “American Chicken,” “Cowboy’s Gifts.” Compare and contrast the ideas presented in Blanco’s poem with the ideas explored in these chapters of Lai’s novel. Where in each text do you see descriptions of old, familiar foods? Where in each text do you see descriptions of strange, new foods? In what ways does each family find a way to combine the old and the new?

3. Optional: Think of a food that you love and that you associate with certain people or with a specific place. Write a poem that uses description to convey the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures of this food.

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Step 10: Extended Reading

• Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle

• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

• Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

• A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

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