Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.     

Ha turns 10 in the beginning of the novel, she has a family that loves her and her very own papaya tree growing in her own back yard.  Then when political unrest and violence threaten her home, her family flees on a dreadfully crowded ship headed toward hope.  America is at times heartbreakingly different but sometimes strangely wonderful too.

To read more about Ha's feelings, experiences and new life in America, check out Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.