Inside Out & Back Again Themes

Family is a pretty big deal for any ten-year-old, but for Hà in Inside Out and Back Again, family is all she has left after the fall of her home in Vietnam. And when we say all, we really mean it....

The year that Inside Out and Back Again takes place in is a big one for Hà. She turns ten right as the book opens, but while double-digits are always a landmark moment, her growing-up process is a...

Since Inside Out and Back Again goes from Saigon to Alabama, differences between the two main settings abound, but one of the main ones has to do with food. Whether lamenting the lack of papayas (o...

We never find ourselves in the heat of battle in Inside Out and Back Again, and it's a good thing, too, since our main character is a ten-year-old girl. So unlike other war stories you might have r...

In Inside Out and Back Again,Hà's family and culture have pretty specific ideas about the roles women and girls play. And the thing is, that these ideas will probably seem pretty familiar—if a l...

Considering that Hà and her family move from Saigon to Alabama in Inside Out and Back Again, it comes as no surprise that language and communication is a theme in this book. After all, Vietnamese...

In Inside Out and Back Again, Hà's father has been missing since she was a baby, she isn't allowed to finish school, she has to leave her beloved papaya tree and best friend, and she has to move t...

Whether you realize it or not, your life has traditions in it. Maybe big holiday celebrations come to mind—and those definitely count—but you also have small traditions, whether it's pizza on F...