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Listen, Slowly (2000)

by Thanhha Lai(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0062229184 (ISBN13: 9780062229182)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

review 1: The author does a really good job of giving 12-year-old Mia a realistic, believable voice and showing how (and why) the girl changes and grows. I was more than a tiny bit annoyed in the beginning at Mia's constant, whiny attitude when she's forced to accompany her grandmother to Vietnam to find answers about what happened to her grandfather during the war. I mean, this 12-year-old REALLY complains - and obsesses - about what she is missing at home and how she can speed up the process to get back home. But Mia's attitude seemed quite normal, and comparable to many 12-year-olds I've known. Her "poor me" drama is full of good humor, and Mia's voice is genuine. She's not completely self-centered, but seems to be a girl who's trying to grow up a little and do the right thing ye... moret still wants to have her fun - and I believed her. I especially liked how Mia, when she's upset with her mother, tries to "unlearn" the "SAT words" she's had to learn every day - it wasn't the only funny part of the book, either.Mia's experiences in Vietnam were interesting and full of flavor - literally, I wanted to try several of the food dishes she described eating. I enjoyed getting an introduction to the customs, atmosphere (including how people travel, and how it's like the game Frogger for pedestrians to cross the street), geography (among many other locales, I could envision the pond where Ut and Mia went to catch the glowing frogs, and the tunnels where an important message has been left) and language of Vietnam.
review 2: I read an ARC of this book, which tells the story of a girl who travels with her grandmother to Vietnam. Mia is not happy to leave her friends and spend the summer searching for clues about her grandfather's past. However, as she acclimates to a different way of life and learns a different culture, she really ends up learning more about herself. I really love reading about a topic/place that I had considered "boring" back in history classes, only to find that the right author can make it fascinating! less

Download links for: Listen, Slowly

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