Closure

People who suffer a deep loss go through several steps while grieving to reach the closure that allows them to experience a peaceful stage of acceptance. The process is different for everyone and may last for many years. In this novel, 12-year-old Mai is forced to travel to Vietnam with her grandmother, Ba, who is in search of answers about Ba's husband who disappeared during the war.

Mai is angry that she is forced into the trip because her focus is on what she is missing at home. Additionally, she does not understand Ba's need for closure after Ong, Ba's husband, went missing during a war that happened more than a half century earlier. No no one has heard from him since that time. When Ba learns that a detective has found information about Ong, she insists on traveling to Vietnam in search of answers. During...