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Inside Out & Back Again
By ThanHha Lai
For Ages 8-12
Genre: Historical Fiction
With the fall of Saigon, Hà and her family flee Vietnam and face the quirks and grief of being immigrants in Alabama. Use these discussion questions, snacks, and activities during your next book club to bring this book to life. Inside Out & Back Again is great for tween and homeschool book clubs.
Discussion Questions
In addition to the general book club questions for fiction books found here, below are my favorite questions to get groups talking about Inside Out & Back Again.
How do you think the author’s name is pronounced? Find out here!
Do you have a garden at home? Have you ever grown a fruit or vegetable from a seed like Hà and her papaya tree?
What did you know about Vietnam before reading this book?
Do you like Hà? Would you like to be her friend?
Hà and her brothers were allowed to take one item, other than clothes and food, with them when they left Vietnam. What did Hà's take? What did her brothers take?
What item would you take and why?
Why do you think the “Cowboy” sponsored Hà’s family and not just her brother?
What does Hà think the inventor of English loved? (Sssssnakes! p. 118)
Were you happy with the ending? Why?
Did you like that the story was written in free verse? Why or why not?
Snack
Sliced Papaya with chili salt (or seasoning) for dipping
Hà's favorite food is papaya, and she longs for the papaya tree, which she grew from a seed back in Saigon. Her mother thinks it tastes lovely dipped in chili salt. What do your book club attendees think? Cut a whole papaya in half so kids can touch and see the black seeds, too.
Other food from Inside Out & Back Again you could try includes rice cakes (p. 1), mung bean cookies (p. 20), black sesame candy (p. 26), banana tapioca (p. 26), rice and water on the ship (p.77), canned syrupy fruit (p. 96), fish sauce makes everything more edible (p. 100), fried chicken (p. 119), and hot dogs (p. 144).
ACTIVITIES
Discuss the Time Period - what happened in 1975?
U.S. President Ford was in office
The movie Jaws was released
Pet Rocks were the most popular Christmas toy in the U.S.
VCRs were developed in Japan
Bruce Lee was very popular - Hà's brother Vu really liked Bruce Lee. Pull up a YouTube video of Bruce Lee for attendees to see his awesome moves.
Map Activity
Can you find Vietnam on a map? Pull up Google Maps and track Hà's route from Saigon to Guam, Guam to Florida, and Florida to Alabama.
All About Me Activity
On page 22, Hà states that she doesn’t “know any more about Father than the small things Mother lets slip.” Encourage the kids to explore what they love, dislike, and want people to know about themselves using this All About Me Worksheet. Ask the kids not to simply list their loves and dislikes (ex, the color green, horses, garlic) but to really think about their personal quirks and elaborate on them (ex, I love peppermint tea, but I only drink it before bed).
Additionally, the author Thanhha Lai has stated that she studied the dictionary throughout her childhood in order to learn English. For the “My Word of the Day is” section of the worksheet, provide the attendees with dictionaries and ask them to find a word they’ve never heard before and to write down its definition.
This was one of the most successful activities I've done with my Homeschool Book Club. It would be a great icebreaker or general activity too. Even the quietest participants were enthusiastic about sharing information about themselves. They enjoyed finding strange words in the dictionary too. (Note of caution: Only provide them with children’s and student dictionaries.)
MORE RESOURCES
The guide includes excellent discussion questions and extension activities for the book.
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