I was happy to learn that this is the first installment in a middle grade trilogy, with each book focusing on one of the titular Nguyen kids. As the eldest, 10-year-old Anne is first: we see her deal with grief and confusion, as well as take pride in her cultural heritage. I appreciate Trinh's note at the end of the story about writing some of the words to reflect how the children, with their different ties/competencies with the language, might pronounce them. Clayton Nguyen's illustrations depict the scenes beautifully as well -- I especially love the illustrations featuring various members of the Nguyen clan.