Synopsis: The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang

The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. ISBN 978-1-56689-208-7. Kao Kalia Yang. 2008. Minnesota Book Awards. Ages 13 plus. Non-fiction memoir. New American Hmong Immigrants.

Synopsis:

In this beautifully written memoir, Kao Kalia Yand delves into the lives of her Hmong family to ensure their history isn’t erased, like it is in American textbooks. Gathered from her parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and most of all her paternal grandmother, the stories she acquires are filled with the hardships of change — through war, death, displacement, and starting over countless times. Displaced from Laos because of the Vietnam War, Yang’s family escapes to the mountains. Swimming across the dangerous Mekong River to Thailand’s Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, Yang’s family struggles to find peace, health, and positive reassurances from their surroundings. Holding on to the few possessions they still have, Yang’s family travels to the United States; some of her family goes to California, but she and her family end up in St. Paul. Her grandmother, a vital part of Yang’s life, fights to keep her family together in Laos, Thailand, and now the United States, which proves extremely challenging for someone so set in her ways and traditions. The relationship between Yang and her grandmother is written so beautifully, giving life to the spirits of Hmong tradition brought to life through her grandmother’s wise mind. Interspersed with pictures of her past and present, Yang’s memoir truly shows us the way family can pull each other through anything: war, death, poverty, displacement, transitioning, and learning a new culture and language.