Mai lives in America with her mother who is from Vietnam. Her mother as adopted and doesn't know her real parents and decides she wants to go to Vietnam to find them. Mai speaks about this kite that was the only thing her mother had when she came to America. When they get to Vietnam they aren't having much luck finding her mothers parents. Mai emphasizes the fact that she can sympathize with her mother because she as in fact, never met her father either. Then they come across a kite maker and he directs them to a place and gives them a name. They then find out her parents passed away during the war. Her mother is upset but glad that she knows who she is now and that she won't feel empty from not knowing now. We don't often recognize how many people we encounter on a daily basis could be suffering with the issue of being adopted or not knowing who their family is. This issue is a daily one that often times isn't one we discuss or talk about, but it is something that children can face daily and probably more then we are aware of. This is also touches on Mai not having met her father either, which is another issue children face daily. I feel like this shed light on those situations and that even if that is you, its okay to not have a perfect or normal family. ( )

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked the book because of its illustrations. But I didn’t like the writing. One thing I liked for example, was that the illustrations had a soft settled color scheme, making it seem like a memory. Mai talks about one of the locations she and her mother visit. The illustration has soft green grass with texture, a location different than the cities in Vietnam. One thing I did not like, was that the writing was lengthy and with no descriptions on small things. For example, Mai talks about the kite that was in her room. Then she sees that same kite in a store in Vietnam. There were no details for the reader to imagine seeing that same kite. The book expresses that no matter if you’re adoptive, have a missing parent or from a different country, home is where your heart is. ( )

During and after the Vietnam war, thousands of children were displaced or orphaned throughout the conflict. Many were adopted by Americans and grew up knowing they were different, not knowing where exactly they came from, or even their given birth names. This book is about one of those children who grew up and went back to Vietnam in search of her first life. The story is told through her ten-year-old daughters' eyes and includes wonderful facts about Vietnam. I appreciated that the book was not a 'happily ever after' tale, as children are smart enough to know it is unrealistic to expect everything to always work out in the end. Fortunately, her mother discovers her birth name and it does bring her some measure of peace. ( )

This book made me cry. I feel as if this book choose me. The girl in the story is also a first generation Vietnamese American like me. She travels to Vietnam with her mother who was adopted during the Vietnam War to search for her unknown parents. She feels scared of the unfamiliar language and country. I have also been to Vietnam with my mother to visit my grandparents. When I was reading this story, I just imagined my mother never knowing her parents or name. "It's strange being in a country here I look mostly like everyone else. I'm used to being a littler different, like the way I am back home." Being surrounded by all Vietnamese people gave me a little cultural shock. I felt sympathy towards all the characters in the book. The illustrations really showcased the beauty of Vietnam. I loved the end page when the little girl is flying a kite because of the symbolism of what the kite meant to the mother. "I think home must be inside me and all around me too." I really appreciate this line because even though I was born in America, a part of me still believes Vietnam is home because we share the same culture. I think about how different my life would have been if my mom never came to America. ( )

There are two reasons I like this book: the suspenseful and organized plot and that the book causes the reader to broaden their perspective about the idea of what a family should look like. The author built up the suspense in the book in an organized way by first addressing the problem, that the mom doesn't know her biological family, then creating the journey to Vietnam which includes a plane ride, a cyclo ride, and a trip to the market where she and her daughter investigate to try to determine where her mother can find her family. The solution to identifying her family was by relating back to the beginning where the author described a kite that the mom had brought to the US when she was adopted. This kite allowed the mom and the daughter to later recognize a similar one that was made by a man that was able to tell her mom about her biological family. This organize plot allow the reader to follow mom easily but was also suspenseful enough to keep the reader engaged. The author also does a great job at broadening the readers perspective about family. He mentions both biological and adoptive family members both of which are very important and equally loved by the mother. That shows the reader that families do not always consist of the same format of a mom, dad, child, and a dog, but rather that some may have an adopted daughter, and absent father, and deceased biological parents. ( )