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.
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"? "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
★ "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 WeeklyBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Kao Kalia Yang is the author of The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, which was winner of the 2009 Minnesota Book Award and a finalist for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award and the Asian American Literary Award. Her work has been published in Longreads and the Virginia Quarterly. She has taught at Columbia University and Concordia University–St. Paul, among other places.
Kelli Tager is a Los Angeles–based, award-winning narrator. She earned a BA in theater arts from UCLA, studying in England for her junior year. She returned to the UK for a master’s in Shakespeare. After graduation, she continued to act in theater, film, and television until she discovered voice-over. She now does voice acting exclusively in commercials, animation, and audiobooks.