March Book of the Month

My whole life I have loved a good story.  Stories have a way of shaping us and making us examine our own biases that simple instructions or directives often do not.  A good story— fictional or true— brings humor to our life, helps us process grief, and points us toward hope.

This is exactly how Jesus uses story throughout the gospels to show us our blindness and draw us unto a restored relationship with him.  It’s also an acknowledgement that we are undoubtedly created in God’s image—who is himself the most masterful story teller.  A writer who uses ALL characters, plots, settings and themes to bring us to himself.  

The power of story is one of the things that has specifically drawn me to the author Thanhha Lai.  Thanna was born in Vietnam and came to America as a refugee at the end of the Vietnam War. Her award winning book “Inside Out and Back Again” is fictional, though based on her own story.  The entire book is written in verse, and intended for a middle school audience but is impactful for all ages.  (As all good stories are!)

As you read through or listen to this book, I encourage you to take note of the arc the story follows. The main character Kim Ha begins with celebration of a new year, explaining her family and her place in it.  She guides us through her mother’s painful decision to flee Saigon, life as a refugee, and making a new home in Alabama.  Along the way she learns English and uses the irregularity of the new language to bring levity and humor into her own story.  She meets bullies and friends, grieves and celebrates, and deepens her connection to family.

I’m grateful for Thanhha Lai’s gentle honesty and masterful ability to write about her own painful experience in a way that encourages and brings hope without diminishing the painful aspects of loss and suffering. I hope the few hours you spend between the pages of this story remind you to step with love and care into the lives of others and to hold your own story with hopefulness and trust.