Tangled Threads A Hmong Girl's Story By Legi Deitz Shea Book Review

Name of book:Tangled Threads A Hmong Girl's Story

Published:2003

Age group:12-15

Number of Pages:236

Summary
For the Hmong people living in overcrowded refugee camps in Thailand, America is a dream: the land of peace and plenty. In 1995, ten years after their arrival at the camp, thirteen-year-old Mai Yang and her grandmother are about to experience that dream.



In America, they will be reunited with their only remaining relatives, Mai"s uncle and his family. They will discover the privileges of their new life: medical care, abundant food, and an apartment all their own. But Mai will also feel the pressures of life as a teenager. Her cousins, now known as Heather and Lisa, try to help Mai look less like a refugee, but following them means disobeying Grandma and Uncle. From showers and smoke alarms to shopping, dating, and her family"s new religion, Mai finds life in America complicated and confusing. Ultimately, she will have to reconcile the old ways with the new, and decide for herself the kind of woman she wants to be.


This archetypal immigrant story introduces readers to the fascinating Hmong culture and offers a unique outsider"s perspective on our own.
 
Review
 
     Historical Fiction has always been one of my favorite genres-and it still is. Tangled Threads is the perfect vision of a Historical Fiction book. I loved that Legi Deitz Shea made Mei emotional, kind, and know how to do what was right. Know her cousin Heather...thats a different story.
 
      Heather is the basic popular girl who drinks beer, calls people names, smokes cigarettes, and dyes her hair with a flourescent orange streak. Heather also disobeys her father's rules in order to date a boy named Bobby.Heather's sister, Lisa, is somewhat different.
 
      Lisa is about the same as Heather, except she doesn't dye her hair flamboyant colors, and she only keeps her relationship secret from her father because her boyfriend doesn't want them to marry in Highschool. Lisa does drink too, and I think she smokes a cigarette (it didn't specify) but at least she doesn't run off with Bobby like Heather does.
 
     Tangled Threads A Hmong Girl's Story is a book about a girl named Mai who struggles to find her way throgh America, and understand everything that is so gloriously new to her. People that are Hmong themselves (beside her cousins Lisa and Heather, who are also Hmong) like Yer and her friends try to help Mai understand and fit in and they do!
 
Rating
Characters-cat (5 stars)
Setting/Description/Plot--cat (5 stars)
Cover-dog (4 stars)
Ending-dog (4 stars)
Suspense-cat (5 stars)
 
Total=
23 stars=good!
 
Luv,
Bethany