Hardcover, 327 pages
English language
Published Jan. 4, 2017
The author describes her experiences as a young Vietnamese immigrant, highlighting her family's move from their war-torn home to the United States in graphic novel format.
This graphic memoir is not only beautifully illustrated, but it uses the cartoon medium to depict dreams, nightmares, fear and hope. The author confronts the harsh reality of the parents who shaped her and ultimately triumph over them.
From a personal oral history this reveals a wider view from intimate context on the disruption colonialism, class, communism, and war brought to growing up in and fleeing Vietnam.
The Best We Could Do is a graphic memoir by Thi Bui. When she becomes a mother she starts to think about what her parents went through to provide her a safe life. It goes between Thi exploring her relationship with her parents now and the story of the family's escape from South Vietnam in the 70s. I learned quite a bit about the political situation in Vietnam as well as reading the hardships of a family who experienced so much, including the loss of children.
