The Best We Could Do

A really personal way to learn about Bui's family throughout the Vietnam War and what it took for them to immigrate to the US and the trauma involved in her family history that she's now reckoning with as she has her own child. Definitely a good YA read to pair with learning about the 60s/70s and the Vietnam War. The art and color palette is effective as is her use of movement through panels. Teen readers might need to get talked/walked through the opening Chapter, “Labor” but the rest will appeal, hold interest, and give personal insight and context to history.

Thi Bui tells the story of her family's journey from Viet Nam to the United States, but also the journeys each of her parents and she herself take from childhood to parenthood. 

The stories here are personal and real. This is very character driven. It's the people in the story that I like most. 

I have never faced living in a war torn country, moving to a new home with a whole new culture and language. Further, I knew next to nothing about Viet Nam. Reading these stories was enlightening. The fact that these are also stories about individuals who were trying to find their ways in life with flawed parents with issues they didn't understand and trying to find their way in life is something I understand and identify with. The blend of these two journeys is a brilliant storytelling technique that makes for more than just learning about someone. It is an intimate look into another person's life that makes them less a random stranger and more of a real person I can identify with and respect.