Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai

Listen, Slowly is a middle grade fiction novel by Thanhha Lai. Mai is all prepared to spend her summer at the beach, but her family has other plans. Instead, Mai will be traveling to Vietnam with her grandmother, to find out the truth about what happened to her grandfather.

Sex: None. Mai makes several comments about her friend Montana being large-chested and buying a swimsuit with a "butt bow." She also convinces some of her Vietnamese family that most American girls wear thongs and talks them into cutting their underwear likewise.

Language: None.

Drug/Alcohol Use: None.

Violence/Gore/Frightening Scenes/Death: There are many references to the Vietnam War, but they aren't graphic at all.

Final Note: Another lovely book by author Thanhha Lai. It was interesting to learn about Vietnamese culture, from a Vietnamese-American point of view. Mai's summer in Vietnam changes and matures her in a lot of positive ways.

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Hello fellow parents and friends! My name is Danielle. I had the idea for this blog a couple of years ago when I was working in my son's school library. It was a known fact that I was an avid reader of middle school and young adult literature and several parents would ask me about books before checking them out for their kids. (Or buying them at the book fair!) Because I read so much, I've never worried too much about what my kids might be reading. My oldest is only eight years old and anything he's read, I've read already! But what about parents who don't necessarily enjoy reading or have the time? I wanted to offer a resource that gave these parents the chance to make educated decisions about books their kids are reading. That's how this blog was born! Before we go any further, I want to point out that I am strongly opposed to book banning. I believe in freedom of speech and expression of art through literature. But I also feel strongly that kids should ...

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