Butterfly Yellow

Written by Thanhhà Lai

Narrated by Lulu Lam

Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Ibi Zoboi, and Erika L. Sánchez, this gorgeously written and deeply moving novel is the YA debut from the award-winning author of Inside Out & Back Again. 4 starred reviews!

In the final days of the Việt Nam War, Hằng takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. In a split second, Linh is ripped from her arms—and Hằng is left behind in the war-torn country.

Six years later, Hằng has made the brutal journey from Việt Nam and is now in Texas as a refugee. She doesn’t know how she will find the little brother who was taken from her until she meets LeeRoy, a city boy with big rodeo dreams, who decides to help her.

Hằng is overjoyed when she reunites with Linh. But when she realizes he doesn’t remember her, their family, or Việt Nam, her heart is crushed. Though the distance between them feels greater than ever, Hằng has come so far that she will do anything to bridge the gap.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Sep 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9780062964328

Thanhhà Lai

Thanhhà Lại is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award and Newbery Honor–winning Inside Out and Back Again; the celebrated Listen, Slowly; the teen novel Butterfly Yellow; and the picture book Hundred Years of Happiness. She was born in Việt Nam and now lives in New York. 

Reviews for Butterfly Yellow

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lee-Roy desperately wants to be a cowboy and is on his way to meet his favorite rodeo star when he gets suckered into helping Hằng, a recent immigrant from Vietnam who is determined to find the little brother she got separated from 6 years ago. Although Hằng has planned for every moment of her escape from Vietnam and entry to America, the one thing she never counted on was that her brother Linh might not remember her.Having previously read another book by Lai, I was expecting this book to be absolutely wonderful and I think my expectations were perhaps too high or maybe this book just simply wasn't as good as the other title. The beginning of this book felt a bit scattered as the characters and situations were introduced; the text jumps back and forth between Lee-Roy and Hằng, and occasionally some other characters as well. Hằng has gone through significant trauma, so she only releases information about her passage to America slowly; this is understandable from a psychological point of view but from a reader's point of view, I'm honestly not sure if I understand everything that happened to her and in what order because there were only snippets at a time. Finally, the ending felt a bit up in the air. It seemed to be designed to be hopefully optimistic without tying up every single loose end neatly in a bow, but I felt that it lacked a bit of closure.That all being said, the characters and cultural aspects were interesting. Technically this book is historical fiction as it takes place in the early 1980s, dealing with the aftermath of the Vietnam War. (There's a few unfortunate word choices like "Eskimo" that are accurate to the time period, but I still don't love.) Generally speaking, the book feels like a realistic fiction novel with some touches of the Western and romance genres. The story as a whole was good, just not as good as I wanted it to be. For the audiophile, Lulu Lam was a talented reader who did an excellent job with the various voices and accents.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hang's little brother was taken to America in the chaos at the end of the Vietnam war. She, and the rest of her family, were left behind. Now, after a harrowing, traumatic journey, she has arrived in Texas, determined to find and reclaim him.