Ha

Kim-Ha, or Ha, is the ten year-old narrator and main character of the novel “Inside Out & Back Again” by Thanhha Lai. Ha is the daughter of Mother and Father, and is the younger sister of Quang, Vu, and Khoi. Ha is named after Vietnam’s Golden River, a place of fond memories for her parents. Ha’s name can be seen as “beautiful life” and “good progress," a telling name for the good things that Ha will someday do. Ha deeply loves her family and still enjoys their life in Saigon, South Vietnam despite the difficulties they face due to war. Among these is the disappearance of their father nine years before.

When Saigon falls to the Communists, tens of thousands of people flee South Vietnam by boat, including Ha and her family. They are rescued by the American Navy, taken to a refugee camp in Guam, and...