thanhha lai's inside out & back again wins national book award for young people's literature

Congratulations to Thanhha Lai, winner of the prestigious 2011 National Book Award in Young People's Literature for her book Inside Out & Back Again.

Winners were announced on Wednesday evening at the National Book Awards Dinner. You can watch video of the dinner and Thanhha Lai's acceptance speech on the National Book Foundation website here.

Inside Out and Back Again is an autobiographical novel about a Vietnamese immigrant family in Alabama:

For all the ten years of her life, Hà has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by - and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape—and the strength of her very own family.

This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.

Sounds great. I wish I had books like this to read and enjoy when I was at the reading level of Ages 8 and up. Then again, I suppose nothing's stopping me from reading it now. For further information about Inside Out and Back Again, go to the publisher's website here.