I chose the book Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai. . Throughout the book there are many emotions portrayed by the main character, Ha, who is a refugee from Saigon, very smart, and a lover of papayas. I really enjoyed this poem verse book based on true events the author went through. I haven’t read many books that tell a story through poems as if it were a journal but it was a relatively easy read (I finished the book in about two hours) targeted at middle school children, possibly even elementary. There wasn’t much dialogue in the book which I liked because the main focus was seeing a new country and new culture from her prospective. She was a refugee at a young age and not many people were welcoming once they found a sponsor family. Even today there are people who feel disapproving of the current refugees seeking new homes to get away from slightly similar situations. The form of the story did make it seem as though I was reading through the book very fast, but I enjoyed that because the book had a type of rhythm. Similar to Love That Dog, using this book could encourage students to write a poem a week, two poems a week, or even to make a story out of poems to capture important moments in their life so they have something to look back on that gives insight into who the student is and what they aspire to achieve (or something like that!).

My FIRST Cento I did before class with some of the quotes that stood out to me was:

Where am I?

I chew each grain s-l-o-w-l-y.

An old, angry knot expanded in my throat.

Not that far away after all.

“Things will get better, just you wait.”

We glide and I feel as if I am floating.

No one is heartless enough to say stop.

I shiver with hope.

My IN CLASS Cento (made from quotes other people chose):

Light skin. Other side, dark skin. Both laughing and chewing.

As if it never occurred to them someone medium would show up.

 

Smile until it hurts.

No one knows and I feel smart.

We glide and I feel as though I am floating.