Inside Out & Back Again
Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
Ages 10–12
A verse novel told through a year of haiku, following ten-year-old Hà as her family flees Vietnam as refugees and arrives in Alabama. Raw and luminous. Newbery Honor.
Heads-up for parents: War & battle violence, Death & grief, Racism & discrimination. Worth reading it yourself first.
- Author
- Thanhha Lai
- Age
- Ages 10–12
- Type
- Immigration, Family, Identity, Poetry
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Readers rate it
- 4.09 / 5 on
- In India
- Available
If you liked this, try
-
The Night Diary
Ages 10–13Indian author
Twelve-year-old Nisha — half-Hindu, half-Muslim — writes secret diary letters to her mother during the 1947 Partition of India. A devastating, tender Newbery Honor novel.
Heads-up: Violence, Death & grief
-
Front Desk
by Kelly Yang
Ages 10–12
Ten-year-old Mia Tang manages a motel front desk while her Chinese immigrant parents work and she secretly helps hide undocumented guests. Inspiring, funny, and deeply felt.
Heads-up: Racism & discrimination, Violence
-
Esperanza Rising
Ages 10–12
Thirteen-year-old Esperanza leaves her privileged life in Mexico for the California farmworker camps during the Great Depression. A powerful, beautiful novel about loss, hope, and dignity.
Heads-up: Death & grief, Violence
-
Merci Suárez Changes Gears
by Meg Medina
Ages 10–12
Merci navigates a full scholarship at a private school, her first crush, and a grandfather with dementia — all while being the only scholarship kid in her friend group. Newbery Medal winner.
Heads-up: Teen crushes & romance, Serious illness
-
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything
Ages 10–12Indian author
Dini's family moves from Maryland to India for a year. She's devastated — until she discovers her Bollywood idol lives nearby. A warm, funny story about belonging and unexpected happiness.
-
Esperanza (Norma / Scholastic edition)
Ages 10–12
Esperanza Ortega's privileged Mexican childhood is destroyed overnight — she must reinvent herself as a farmworker in Depression-era California. Widely taught across Latin America.
Heads-up: Death & grief, Violence





