Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam Paperback – June 20, 2023

I cried so much reading this book! It captures the Vietnamese-American immigration/immigrant experience so well!! The illustrations are also so good!!!

I really enjoyed this graphic novel; it really gave me a glimpse of what it meant for my relatives and others who fled Vietnam to find new life and opportunities here in the United States. I really related to the struggles that were cleverly illustrated out by the author; there were moments where it made me very nostalgic about my own up bringing and also help put me into the shoes of my parents, who were in fact refugees from Vietnam as they fled the war. There was laughter, there were tear jerking moments; it's such a quick but powerful read and I highly recommend supporting this author.

Really gorgeous, funny and touching. A true American story. I bought copies for all my nieces to read. I can’t wait to read it again.

Thein Pham's first memory is on a refugee boat from Vietnam to Thailand and to this day, he can still taste the sweetness of the rice and the saltiness of the fish of what he ate after a near catastrophic moment on that boat. In FAMILY STYLE, we go on a journey with Thien Pham and his family as they navigate their lives as refugees and then immigrants to the United States, settling in Northern California. Each chapter in this book is organized around a specific dish as we watch Thien and his family live the American dream. The culminating chapter of this book is so beautiful and emotionally resonant that I will be thinking about it for a long time. What I especially love is that FAMILY STYLE is a graphic memoir that can go on ANY library shelf... middle grade readers, young adults, and adults alike can pick up this book, enjoy it, and feel like it was written just for them.

Really enjoyed this one. A charming story of immigration, family, food, and belonging. The artwork is very cute but sometimes it’s difficult to tell characters apart.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard about the book on NPR, but I wanted something I could read with my 4.5-year-old daughter to relate the similarities of my own refugee journey after escaping Vietnam to come to the US. I am so pleased with how it turned out to have just the right content for any age. The book brought back memories of my own childhood years and opportunities to share my own details with my kids. My little daughter absolutely loves it when I read it to her. We've read and reread it about three times now, and she always discovers something new, prompting lots of questions each time. I really enjoyed the food theme of the book making the book very homey to me.

I really enjoyed this book of the story of a young immigrant and his family's escape from Viet-Nam. This is a graphic ( artistic cartoon) novel. The drawings are mostly done in shades of brown, black, and gold, but some of the images are quite violent and would not be suitable for young readers. In this particular section the mother tells the boy to close his eyes while their boat is attacked by pirates. Alternating black pages and images of the attack is certainly a dramatic approach, but also very disturbing, though totally appropriate to the plot.The book ends with a an interesting section about the author and his life.

A heartwarming refugee story told through the savoring of special foods throughout a lifetime. And from the salty-sweetness of fish and rice eaten after a pirate attack to the ham and cheese croissant eaten as his family begins their first American business and beyond, Thien Pham has had a life worth reading about. The art style is warm and youthful (if that makes sense) which makes the dramatic moments all the more poignant. If you have a heart you will cry. If you have a stomach it will grumble. Five stars.