2009 Reading #45: The Latehomecomer
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
41. Jade Tiger by Jenn Reese.
42. Norse Code by Greg van Eekhout.
43. A Peculiar Imbalance: The Fall and Rise of Racial Equality in Early Minnesota by William D. Green.
44. The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, translated by Doryl Jensen.
45. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang. Does what it says on the tin; this is the story of Yang's family from the French occupation of Laos through fighting in the CIA's Secret War to the rise of the Pathet Lao, the flight to Thailand, the years of the refugee camps (where Kalia was born), and the emigration to the United States (St. Paul, specifically). The thread that emerges is one of shifting cultural identity--of trying to figure out what it means to be Hmong in a new place; this is embodied in the relationship between Kalia and her grandfather. Very moving and well done.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
41. Jade Tiger by Jenn Reese.
42. Norse Code by Greg van Eekhout.
43. A Peculiar Imbalance: The Fall and Rise of Racial Equality in Early Minnesota by William D. Green.
44. The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach, translated by Doryl Jensen.
45. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang. Does what it says on the tin; this is the story of Yang's family from the French occupation of Laos through fighting in the CIA's Secret War to the rise of the Pathet Lao, the flight to Thailand, the years of the refugee camps (where Kalia was born), and the emigration to the United States (St. Paul, specifically). The thread that emerges is one of shifting cultural identity--of trying to figure out what it means to be Hmong in a new place; this is embodied in the relationship between Kalia and her grandfather. Very moving and well done.