Family Style

Starred review from April 24, 2023
Pham employs food as a vehicle to chronicle his and his family’s treacherous experience as Vietnamese refugees in this arresting graphic novel memoir, a debut. In the book’s first chapter, a bespectacled adult Pham recalls “my very first memory... from when I was five.” A spread rendered in inky line and muted color washes depicts an overcrowded boat carrying Vietnamese evacuees suffering from thirst, hunger, and fear. When their vessel is beset by pirates, Pham’s parents instruct him to close his eyes; pages of void-like darkness interspersed by red-toned scenes of the pirates’ violent acts follow as Pham’s parents assure him that they’re “right here. It will be okay.” Upon surviving the siege, Pham is given a rice ball, the last of the family’s food: “To this day,” Pham writes, “I can still taste that rice ball.” Subsequent chapters recount the family’s travels from Songkhla refugee camp to San Jose, Calif. Pham reflects the push-pull conflict of assimilation and cultural loss as explored through food in digitally illustrated panels portraying visual feasts and expressive emotion, making for a vivid and insightful telling that offers joy and hope amid the terror. Ages 14–up.

Starred review from June 1, 2023

Gr 9 Up-In this graphic memoir, Pham shares with readers memories of his family's immigration to the U.S. and their efforts to achieve "the American Dream." Each chapter is framed around a specific food that is central to his memory of critical points in his life. Starting with his first memory at five years old, Pham relates his family's experience of fleeing Vietnam by boat and being given rice and fish by a passing ship. Other chapters focus on the family finally making it to the U.S. (celebratory meal of steak and potatoes), Pham attending an English-speaking school for the first time (cafeteria-served Salisbury steak), and reconnecting with his Vietnamese heritage through a friend (shared meal of Co'm t�' m d- c bi t). Throughout, Pham's mother shines as the hero of the story, even if his younger self was not fully aware at the time of everything she did to protect his childhood. This can be seen in small moments, such as her treating Pham and his brother to expensive potato chips and in more extreme situations like the powerful scene in which she shields his vision and calmly talks him through a horrendous and brutal pirate attack. Pham's detailed artwork and expert use of the graphic novel format will doubtlessly transport readers into each compelling memory. VERDICT A delicious series of memories full of hope and human connections despite the hardships of immigrating to a new home.-Amanda Melilli

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2023
This graphic memoir begins with the author's earliest memory: trying to quench his thirst with seawater as he and his family flee Vietnam by boat. Thien's perspective as a five-year-old child is relayed through alternating spreads of violence he witnesses and then pitch-black spreads (when he closes his eyes to shut out the terror). After the threat is over, a rice ball with fish saved for him by his mother provides comfort. The food motif continues, with chapters named for foods that accompany his memories, as the family stays at the overcrowded Songkhla Refugee Camp in Thailand until they're relocated to San Jose, California -- where the book showcases the diversity of Asian American identities via a dish introduced to Thien by his Vietnamese American crush. Finally, after anti-immigrant rhetoric drives the adult Pham to seek U.S. citizenship, a celebratory meal of rice and fish shared with his family recalls that first memory. Community-building and resilience are central to the story as people from various backgrounds help the family navigate unfamiliar situations. The cartoon style and animated facial expressions in the muted, earth-hued panel illustrations are warm and inviting, matching the earnest and often humorous tone of the book. A nuanced and hopeful graphic memoir depicting moments of hardship and joy with sincerity. Back matter includes photographs and Pham's "interview" with himself. Kristine Techavanich

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from June 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Pham's (Sumo, 2012) extraordinary memoir just might be the toothsome gift we didn't know we needed. Pham was five when his family escaped Vietnam by boat. His earliest memory originates then, in the taste of the rice ball he ate after his family survived a vicious pirate attack (the black space in this sequence is particularly powerful): "the saltiness of the fish . . . the sweetness of the rice" endures. Over eight chapters, Pham highlights personally iconic foods to encapsulate certain portions of his life thus far, beginning and concluding with "rice and fish" eaten in vastly different situations, first as that vulnerable child and decades later during a citizenship celebration with his family. In between, Pham recalls b�nh cuốn (rice rolls) in the Thai refugee camp; their first American meal of steak and potatoes; the strawberries and potato chips that epitomized becoming "officially American"; the Salisbury steak of free school lunches; the ham-and-cheese croissant signaling the family's hope for financial independence; and a reconnection with his Vietnamese heritage in cơm tấm đặc biệt (broken rice platter). Pham presents his predominantly six-panel pages in earthy tones of browns, greens, and grays. His depiction of gaining English and losing Vietnamese via parallel text bubbles is brilliant. Gene Luen Yang (Pham's Level Up (2011) cocreator) makes a delightful cameo. Pham's endnotes--a comical, poignant Q&A--add even more delectable delight.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2023
This graphic memoir begins with the author's earliest memory: trying to quench his thirst with seawater as he and his family flee Vietnam by boat. Thien's perspective as a five-year-old child is relayed through alternating spreads of violence he witnesses and then pitch-black spreads (when he closes his eyes to shut out the terror). After the threat is over, a rice ball with fish saved for him by his mother provides comfort. The food motif continues, with chapters named for foods that accompany his memories, as the family stays at the overcrowded Songkhla Refugee Camp in Thailand until they're relocated to San Jose, California -- where the book showcases the diversity of Asian American identities via a dish introduced to Thien by his Vietnamese American crush. Finally, after anti-immigrant rhetoric drives the adult Pham to seek U.S. citizenship, a celebratory meal of rice and fish shared with his family recalls that first memory. Community-building and resilience are central to the story as people from various backgrounds help the family navigate unfamiliar situations. The cartoon style and animated facial expressions in the muted, earth-hued panel illustrations are warm and inviting, matching the earnest and often humorous tone of the book. A nuanced and hopeful graphic memoir depicting moments of hardship and joy with sincerity. Back matter includes photographs and Pham's "interview" with himself.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2023
A Vietnamese refugee looks back at his food memories in this graphic memoir. Pham's first memory was when he was 5, fleeing a war-torn Vietnam with his family. Pirates brandishing guns and knives attacked the small boat they were using to escape. His mom held onto him through gut-wrenching, violent scenes punctuated by solid black pages containing only her words of comfort: "I'm right here." When the pirates were gone, he ate a rice ball his dad saved for him. At 41, Pham can still taste "the saltiness of the fish...the sweetness of the rice." He details pivotal moments in his life through food--each chapter is devoted to a particular meal. His mom made and sold b�nh cuốn at the Songkhla refugee camp in Thailand, where they awaited relocation. Russ, the White man who helped the Pham family when they arrived in the United States, made steak and potatoes for their first American dinner. Moving between harrowing and hopeful moments, his family's experiences in their new country are powerfully juxtaposed. The narrative cohesion is weakened by time jumps in the final chapters, culminating in Pham's path to citizenship as an adult, but the depiction of food as a love language holds together throughout. The blocky, geometric artwork is skillfully executed in rich, earthy, muted shades with strong black lines, lending the work a nostalgic feeling. An American story to savor. (bonus panels) (Graphic memoir. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.