From APALA-winning author and Guggenheim Fellow Kao Kalia Yang, a middle-grade debut about a Hmong American boy's struggle to find a place for himself in America and in the world of his ancestors.
Malcolm is the youngest child of Hmong refugees, and he was born over a decade after his youngest sibling, giving him a unique perspective on his complicated immigrant family.
In the first part of the story, we meet Malcolm as an elementary school kid through the eyes of the adults in his life—his parents and siblings, but also the white teachers at his Minnesota schools. As middle school begins, we encounter Malcolm in his own words, and suddenly we see that this "quiet, slow Hmong boy" is anything but. Malcolm is a gifted collector of his family's stories and tireless seeker of his own place within an evolving Hmong American culture, and his journey toward becoming a shaman like his grandparents before him is inspiring and revelatory.
★ "Lyrical, evocative prose deftly captures Malcolm’s longing for a sense of belonging; Yang has crafted a layered, profoundly moving musing on grief, connection (and lack thereof), and identity. A true gem."—Kirkus, starred review
“[A] richly wrought tale about a boy coming into his own.”—Publishers Weekly
Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong-American writer. She is the author of the adult memoir The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. Yang’s many children’s books include Caged, From the Tops of the Trees, A Map Into the World, The Most Beautiful Thing, and The Rock in My Throat. She is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, and her work has earned numerous honors, including finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Chautauqua Prize, and the PEN USA literary award, and winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and four Minnesota Book Awards. Kao Kalia Yang lives in Minnesota with her family, and teaches and speaks across the nation.
View titles by Kao Kalia Yang
From APALA-winning author and Guggenheim Fellow Kao Kalia Yang, a middle-grade debut about a Hmong American boy's struggle to find a place for himself in America and in the world of his ancestors.
Malcolm is the youngest child of Hmong refugees, and he was born over a decade after his youngest sibling, giving him a unique perspective on his complicated immigrant family.
In the first part of the story, we meet Malcolm as an elementary school kid through the eyes of the adults in his life—his parents and siblings, but also the white teachers at his Minnesota schools. As middle school begins, we encounter Malcolm in his own words, and suddenly we see that this "quiet, slow Hmong boy" is anything but. Malcolm is a gifted collector of his family's stories and tireless seeker of his own place within an evolving Hmong American culture, and his journey toward becoming a shaman like his grandparents before him is inspiring and revelatory.
Praise
★ "Lyrical, evocative prose deftly captures Malcolm’s longing for a sense of belonging; Yang has crafted a layered, profoundly moving musing on grief, connection (and lack thereof), and identity. A true gem."—Kirkus, starred review
“[A] richly wrought tale about a boy coming into his own.”—Publishers Weekly
Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong-American writer. She is the author of the adult memoir The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. Yang’s many children’s books include Caged, From the Tops of the Trees, A Map Into the World, The Most Beautiful Thing, and The Rock in My Throat. She is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, and her work has earned numerous honors, including finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Chautauqua Prize, and the PEN USA literary award, and winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and four Minnesota Book Awards. Kao Kalia Yang lives in Minnesota with her family, and teaches and speaks across the nation.
View titles by Kao Kalia Yang
