Vietnam
Socialist Republic of Vietnam Cong Hoa Xa Hoi Chu Nghia Viet Nam Southeastern Asia AREA 128K mi2; 331K km2 ARABLE 21% POP 105.8M (827/mi2; 320/km2) GOV’T Communist Party-led state CAPITAL Hanoi (5.4M) GDP/CAPITA $13,500 UNEMPLOYMENT 1.6% IN POVERTY 4.3% LIFE EXP 76 years MEDIAN AGE 33 yrs INFANT MORT 14/1K live births (99th) LITERACY 96% INTERNET USERS 78% LANGUAGES Vietnamese (official); English (increasingly a 2nd language); French, Chinese, Khmer; mountain-area languages (incl. Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian) RELIGIONS Catholic 6%, Buddhist 6%, Protestant 1%, other 1%, none 86% HEALTH 4.7% of GDP EDUCATION 4.1% of GDP (113th) MILITARY 1.8% of GDP (76th) PCVs 2022–present CURRENT: 20, TTD: >36 |  Vietnam Despite rapidly-increasing tourism and manufacturing, Vietnam is fundamentally a land of farmers and fishermen. Harvests are transported by pushbikes, handcarts, donkeys, and motorcycles-and tractors pulling wagons of all shapes and sizes. Along with an urgency to get the crops in and safely to market, smiles and singing often accompany the work. Here, on the road from Hai Long to Hanoi, one sees much evidence of this vital agricultural activity, on which the majority of the country's citizens still depend. Havard Bauer© 2014 | PCV Kiribati 1990-1992 TEFL Teacher | PST Director Kiribati, Armenia, Georgia, Solomon is., Namibia, Marshall Is., Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Mongolia 1993-2007 |
Adult Books
By Thien Pham
2023, YA
Summary:
In this graphic novel memoir, Vietnamese American Thien Pham uses different types of food to signify and explore his experiences as a refugee who fled Vietnam with his family, spent time in Thailand in a refugee camp, and resettled in California. As Thien recounts his efforts to recover from his trauma, find happiness, and live out the American Dream, different foods came to signify his struggles and triumphs.
Editorial Reviews:
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, friendship, assimilation and life in San Jose as a refugee, the graphic novel also serves as a love letter to his most memorable meals, from Southeast Asia to Northern California.”―NPR
"Pham deftly draws us into stirring sense memories ― not only of place but also taste ― using an immersive, autumnal palette." ―Washington Post
"Pham’s extraordinary memoir just might be the toothsome gift we didn’t know we needed."―Booklist, starred review
"Pham reflects the push-pull conflict of assimilation and cultural loss as explored through food in digitally illustrated panels portraying visual feasts and expressive emotion, making for a vivid and insightful telling that offers joy and hope amid the terror."―Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A delicious series of memories full of hope and human connections despite the hardships of immigrating to a new home."―School Library Journal, starred review
"...a moving, insightful graphic novel memoir that shares the Vietnamese refugee experience through food."―Shelf Awareness, starred review
“In this gorgeous young-adult graphic memoir, Pham tells the story of his family’s resettlement in San Jose through his vivid, emotional food memories.”―The San Francisco Chronicle
"A nuanced and hopeful graphic memoir depicting moments of hardship and joy with sincerity."―Horn Book
"[A] standout graphic novel"―Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
About the author:
Thien Pham is a graphic novelist, comic artist, and educator based in Oakland, CA. He is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel Sumo and did the art for the middle-grade graphic novel Level Up, written by Gene Luen Yang, and is an ongoing comic contributor to Eater SF. Currently Pham is working on his next graphic novel, teaching, and eating. A lot. Follow Thien on Twitter and Instagram.
Kids' Books
By Na-mi Choi; illustrated by Sinae Jo
Publisher: Minneapolis, MN: big bh& SMALL (Lerner), 2015.
Format: 32 pgs; col illus.
ISBN: 978-1-92523-325-0
Age Range: 6-10 yrs.
Summary:
The Mekong River is called "the lifeline of Vietnam." The Vietnamese people's lives are dependent on the river. This book is about Tui, who lives in a water village.
Films
Film:Buffalo Boy
Genre:Drama
Release Date:2005
Language:Vietnamese, with English subtitles
Run Time: 102 minutes
Synopsis:
Set along the southern coast of Vietnam during the French occupation in the 1940s, water is everywhere, giving life and bringing decay and rot. Kim is 15; his father and stepmother have two buffalo, their lifeline as subsistence rice farmers. During the rainy season, there's no grass and the buffalo are starving. Kim volunteers to take the beasts inland to find food. On this coming-of-age journey, Kim sees men mistreat women, men fight with men, and French taxes rob the poor. He works for Lap, a buffalo herder whose past is entangled with Kim's parents, and he makes friends who will lead him to his place in the world.
