Absolutely brilliant way to kick off my 2024 reading year with this new middle grade novel in verse. While it’s a sequel to Inside Out and Back Again, it can also be read by itself.

Hà and her family have worked hard to make a life for themselves in the US, but it hasn’t come easy. Hà has only just started to feel settled when Mother decides that the family will move to Texas for a new job.

Hà knows how hard starting over is and doesn’t want to have to do it again. But sometimes even an unwanted change can bring opportunity, new friends, and a place to call home.

Searing language sweeps us into the lives of those recently immigrated as they work toward their dreams; belonging, a home, and finding some sort of new normal whole remaining connected to where they came from.

A beautifully written follow up to Inside out and Back again. It’s exciting to learn about what came next for Ha and her family. Every refugee has a different experience and theirs is unique.

This book is a powerful glimpse into the life of a young refugee girl who has come to the US from Vietnam. In this sequel to the award-winning INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN, I loved getting to know Hà again and observe how she's coping (or rather continuing to cope) with the changes and hardships and laughter and love and opportunity that are rolled into the refugee experience. Like the first one, this book is written in verse which I find adds to the emotion of the story and makes me feel like I'm part of the experience as the reader. I highly recommend this to fans of historical fiction that educates, entertains, and emotes.

Based on the author's childhood, this story follows Ha life as a refugee from the Vietnam War. First setlled in Alabama, the family transitions to Texas for a new job opportunity.

This lovely novel in verse is a beautiful sequel to her award-winning Inside Out and Back Again. Ha expeirences hard times and ultimatley finds friends and a new place to call home.

This was a fantastic continuation of the story! The lyrical and poetic style of Lai weaves together a story that is subtle but also heartfelt. Kids will be able to see themselves in Ha as someone who is just struggling to fit in.

Thanhhà Lai has brought another beautiful chapter to the story of Hà, as she and her family navigate building their second home in the United States after fleeing Vietnam. Lai describes the ways in which fitting in to a new country and new communities offers not only challenges, but ways to gain closeness to those you love. Hà is able to share one of her first years in the US through beautiful prose. Lai describes that she used prose to tell her story because Vietnamese, itself, is a very poetic language. I think it's so interesting to see the change and evolution of Hà's prose and speech as she learns more English. I would definitely recommend this book to students, but keep in mind that there are mentions of war and war crimes.

Thank you to HarperCollins and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Publication Date: May 9, 2023
Review Date: August 23, 2023
This follow up novel-in-verse to Inside Out & Back Again (2011) from Thanhha Lai chronicles Hà’s and her family’s move to Texas for her mother’s new job. Just as Hà has started to feel more at home in Alabama, and knowing how difficult it is to start over again, this heartfelt book explores Hà’s sentiments of trying to hang on to old friends, and make new friends again in Texas.
Overall, I liked this book, but didn’t love it – perhaps unfairly comparing it to the first. I felt like the first novel was more engaging. That being said though, I would absolutely recommend this to kids who enjoyed the first book (which was widely read in my community a few years back for our 1 book 1 community initiative).
3.5/5 Stars.

When Clouds Touch Us is a lovely follow up to Lai's previous work Inside Out and Back Again. It was wonderful to revisit Ha and her family as they settle in to their new home. Written in beautiful verse, this is a quick, compelling read.

This book is stunning. I Loved the first book and I knew I just has to know the next part. Elegantly written. Belongs on every shelf. So good.

I loved Inside Out and Back Again and was so excited to see the sequel coming out.

I found this sequel a little confusing and lackluster. There were many points during my reading of it that I didn't understand what was going on. Parts would make sense and then the next part would be very confusing. I read quickly through the rest of the book and am still not sure what happened in it.

Rounded up to 3.5 stars.

I enjoyed this book, though not as much as the first one. I found the uniqueness of the story and the characters in the first book to be more compelling, though I do enjoy the relationship between Lai and her brothers, and the sacrifices her mother made in an effort to give her children a better life are incredible. I also did like the choice to continue in the verse style for this book. I Just didn't feel like there was much of anything that was new in this book, however, I will still likely purchase it for my library.

If you've read Inside Out and Back Again you'll know what to expect from this book. The first volume introduced us to a refugee family and their struggles to find a place to belong in small town Alabama. This volume extends those ideas. Book one had them getting their feet under them. This book introduces more change as their mother is no longer satisfied with just surviving. She wants a better life for them so this book is all about making sacrifices in the name of a better future while her children try to find a place to belong again. While it builds on the events of the previous book, familiarity isn't necessary to understand this one.

In a poetic sequel to Inside Out & Back Again (HarperCollins, 2011) that picks up as sixth grade Vietnamese American Ha must leave her best friend, Pam, in Alabama and move to Texas where her mother and brothers work long hours and she is, once again, the only Asian child in her class. Ha’s verse impressions of strange customs, confusing pronunciation, isolation, and adolescent anguish will resonate with both immigrants and U.S.-born middle schoolers. While the short stanza form is the same as the earlier book, the syntax is more convoluted, and the personal references across decades are harder to decode. Fans of Ha will persevere, but young readers new to the series may struggle. Other characters are mostly white and Hispanic. Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an Advance Readers Copy in return for an unbiased review.

This sequel to "Inside Out and Back Again" is touching and a worthwhile read, but doesn't quite reach the heights of its predecessor. Told in dreamlike verse, the plot never really takes off- it's more "slice of life" in recounting the experiences of a refugee family that finds itself picking up and relocating again. This book stands out in that it gives young readers the opportunity to follow the refugee story beyond the initial "safe and sound" ending. It rings true, those years of searching for stability even after the perilous voyage has ended.

Although it's a bit meandering and is likely to hold more appeal for adults than children, this book offers a beautiful depiction of the family, especially the mother, as a vital support system amidst struggle. Recommended for readers who want more of Ha's story.

When Clouds Touch Us continues the powerful story of Inside Out and Back Again. Ha and her family are moving from Alabama to Texas. And the move brings with it loss of friends, and familiarity. As well as challenges with school, work, and housing. Skillfully woven into a compelling story in lyrical verse, if you loved Inside Out and Back Again, you will definitely want to read this sequel.

I read Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again years ago, and maybe it was one of the reasons I fell in verse novels (not sure, but I definitely wanted to read more stories in verse after this). When I saw there is a sequel coming, I had to request for the ARC. And to my delight, Thanhha Lai is wowing me again! I am halfway through the book (which is due out on May 9th so not too far out), and have stopped just to write this post though I am guessing I will be done in a bit anyways..

Thanhha’s use of the prose-poem, as she calls it, is superb. In the introduction, she mentions she uses it to better think in Vietnamese while writing in English, and the result – is beautiful, lyrical, and ….well, running out of words here.. I have found myself highlighting so many lines that I simply loved that now the pages seem to have taken on a different color themselves!

A must-read…

Source: Netgalley ARC

I loved Inside Out and Back Again which is the first book in this poetry duology about Vietnamese refugee Hà and her family. So, when I saw the news that a sequel was being written, I jumped on it! Set in the 1970s, this autobiographical novel in verse details how Hà and her family traveled from Vietnam to Alabama to Texas for safety and better opportunities. This is such a beautiful perspective and paints a beautiful picture of resilience and hope. The author perfectly captured feelings of middle school friendships and the desperation to fit in, too. After reading this, I will never be able to look at a Lantana flower the same way either. This makes you adjust your perspective and really consider what the refugee experience must be like.

I did prefer the first book in this series, and I felt like I couldn't follow this one as well. It's been a while since I read the first book, so maybe I was forgetting some things from book one that would have filled in the gaps. Maybe the writing style slightly changed. I'm not sure. This is still an important book about the refugee experience and was beautifully done!

Lai has done it again, this time in a coming-of-age tale of a girl struggling to survive in dual cultures, waiting for the “clouds to touch us ending refugee living.” Beautifully written in prose verse, this is an engaging work for readers middle school and up.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC for this book. The book is written beautifully in verse and captures the challenges of moving and settling in to a new place.

Touching continuation of this story. So glad to hear the updated story of this young Vietnamese immigrant. Rich storytelling with moving experiences and descriptions.
Thanks Net galley for the advanced copy !