Please join us for May's Book Club discussion of "The Best We Could Do" by Thi Bui, Thursday, May 26th at 7pm. This will be a hybrid event -- in person AND Zoom! (So those further away or who don't feel safe just yet can still join. However, if there is a surge, the in-person aspect will be canceled and we'll all meet on Zoom.)
In honor of Asian Pacific American Month, we will be reading Thi Bui memoir, "The Best We Could Do," which is also a graphic novel -- something we haven't done before. I'm excited for this one!
National Bestseller
American Book Award Winner
2017 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Finalist
ABA Indies Introduce Winter / Spring 2017 Selection
ALA 2018 Notable Books Selection
An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam, from debut author Thi Bui.
This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves.
At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: While adjusting to life as a first-time mother, she ultimately discovers what it means to be a parent—the endless sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures, and the depths of unspoken love. Despite how impossible it seems to take on the simultaneous roles of both parent and child, Bui pushes through. With haunting, poetic writing and breathtaking art, she examines the strength of family, the importance of identity, and the meaning of home.
In what Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen calls “a book to break your heart and heal it,” The Best We Could Do brings to life Thi Bui’s journey of understanding, and provides inspiration to all of those who search for a better future while longing for a simpler past.
Presented by the Alibi Book-Shop.