YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
Eisner Award Winner for Best Graphic Memoir
An NPR Best Books of 2023
A moving young adult graphic memoir about a Vietnamese immigrant boy's search for belonging in America, perfect for fans ofAmerican Born ChineseandThe Best We Could Do!
Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam.
After the Pham family arrives at a refugee camp in Thailand, they struggle to survive. Things don't get much easier once they resettle in California. And through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity.
Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a searchfor belonging, for happiness, for the American dream.
As past and present intertwine,Family Stylebecomes a meditation on:
- cultural identity and diaspora experience
- family memory and inherited history
- war, migration, and survival
- food as a vessel for storytelling and connection
- and the search for belonging across generations
Thien Phamis a graphic novelist, comic artist, and educator based in Oakland, CA. He is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel
Sumoand did the art for the middle-grade graphic novel
Level Up, written by Gene Luen Yang. He is an ongoing comic contributor to
EaterSFand as such eats-- a lot.
This Eisner Award winner was included in the 2023 Best Book of the Year lists from NPR,Publishers Weekly,Booklist,School Library Journal,Shelf Awareness, and more!
Packed with life lessons about family, frls!
![Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/4/8/0/2_5414078.jpg "Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam [Paperback]")