9780062964328
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Butterfly Yellow audiobook

  • By: Thanhhà Lai
  • Narrator: LuLu Lam
  • Length: 6 hours 33 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperCollins
  • Publish date: September 03, 2019
  • Language: English
  • (2177 ratings)
(2177 ratings)
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Butterfly Yellow Audiobook Summary

Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Ibi Zoboi, and Erika L. Sanchez, this gorgeously written and deeply moving novel is the YA debut from the award-winning author of Inside Out & Back Again. 4 starred reviews!

In the final days of the Viet Nam War, Hang takes her little brother, Linh, to the airport, determined to find a way to safety in America. In a split second, Linh is ripped from her arms–and Hang is left behind in the war-torn country.

Six years later, Hang has made the brutal journey from Viet Nam and is now in Texas as a refugee. She doesn’t know how she will find the little brother who was taken from her until she meets LeeRoy, a city boy with big rodeo dreams, who decides to help her.

Hang is overjoyed when she reunites with Linh. But when she realizes he doesn’t remember her, their family, or Viet Nam, her heart is crushed. Though the distance between them feels greater than ever, Hang has come so far that she will do anything to bridge the gap.

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Butterfly Yellow Audiobook Narrator

LuLu Lam is the narrator of Butterfly Yellow audiobook that was written by Thanhhà Lai

Thanhhà Lai  is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Inside Out & Back Again, her debut novel in verse, which won both a National Book Award and a Newbery Honor, and the acclaimed Listen, Slowly and Butterfly Yellow, both of which were named to numerous best book of the year lists. She was born in Viêt Nam and now lives in New York with her family. To learn more about Thanhhà and her charity, Viet Kids Inc., visit www.thanhhalai.com.

About the Author(s) of Butterfly Yellow

Thanhhà Lai is the author of Butterfly Yellow

Butterfly Yellow Full Details

Narrator LuLu Lam
Length 6 hours 33 minutes
Author Thanhhà Lai
Publisher HarperCollins
Release date September 03, 2019
ISBN 9780062964328

Additional info

The publisher of the Butterfly Yellow is HarperCollins. The imprint is HarperCollins. It is supplied by HarperCollins. The ISBN-13 is 9780062964328.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

aly

February 23, 2023

Butterfly Yellow is a heartbreaking tale of perseverance, love, and survival — set in the 1981s, in the final days of the Vietnam War where Hằng is on her quest in finding her missing brother who was taken to America at the age of five as part of Operation Babylift. Along the way, she encounters LeeRoy, an aspiring cowboy who grudgingly drives her to the Texas town where her brother has been residing.Frankly speaking, I pretty much expected this book to bore me, but it was such a surprise when you just come to enjoy a book more than you expected to. Butterfly Yellow has a powerful emotional impact that you might not anticipate at first, but it makes me tear up all the same. I personally love our main duo in this book. Hằng and LeeRoy might seem like an unlikely pair, with one of them with his cowboy fascination while the other is dead set on a mission Vietnamese refugee — but their dynamic works with the sweet bond that's filled with many comical moments. I have to say having LeeRoy in the picture makes the book more vibrant and what made it delightful . The prescience of the Vietnamese language is also another remarkable thing to uncover in this book — the Vietnamese's monosyllabic nature and Hằng's fascination to learn English make this a unique experience equipped with sentence trees. Although Hằng can steadily understand English, she soon discovered that she still requires her Vietnamese magnification to reconfigure her new surroundings and begins using phonetic Vietnamese sounds to form her English phrases-words. If you have much love for linguistics (and as a linguistic minor myself) - this book is abiding with the big picture it brings forth. Foremost, I particularly value the short-named chapters, making these leaped-off pages read with their beautiful prose and steady pacing. Butterfly Yellow is a lovely, lyrical tale of the people you hold dear and the fortitude it takes to build a life. Simply hopeful and captivating!

Erin Entrada

October 28, 2019

Wow. Wow. Wow. I love H and LeeRoy so much. What a wonderful story about an unlikely pair. The writing is incredible, especially how the Vietnamese-to-English words are written. After I finished this book I had to take a minute to think about it.**OK. So it's the next day and I'm still thinking about how much I love this book. I'm perplexed by reviewers who were put off by H's English dialogue. Yes, it's difficult to understand at first glance (and even second) ... but that's the whole point. It's ingenious how Lai was able to depict spoken ESL with a Vietnamese "accent." But she still kept the reader in the loop by having LeeRoy repeat and/or respond in such a way that allowed us to understand her. It is SUCH an incredible and clever craft decision on Lai's part. And who among us hasn't encountered an ESL speaker and struggled to understand them, particularly if their native language is based on a completely different sound structure than English? Lai depicts this so well in the novel. She forces us to listen, and we FEEL H's anguish as she struggles to put together the correct words, sentences, and thoughts, in a complicated language that native English speakers really take for granted. I was completely astonished at how beautifully Lai allowed us into H's world. I love that H was guarded at first with her story, and the writing reflected that, but as we gained H's trust, the writing opened up and H became more vulnerable.The language in this novel is deceptively simple, because it's not simple at all. Lai writes with such subtlety and grace. I adored this book!

Jennifer

December 08, 2019

Full review with AUTHOR Q & A on https://booknationbyjen.com/2019/12/0...When Hằng was twelve, her five year old brother, Linh, was taken away as part of Operation Baby Lift and sent to the United States at the end of the Vietnam War. She and her grandmother spent the next six years worried about his safety, wondering about his life and planning for their reunion. After spending time in a refugee camp, Hằng made the difficult journey to Texas, alone, to find her beloved sibling. Grueling travel, the language barrier, and cultural differences all challenged Hằng, yet she remained determined.“Her brother is the only person left from her youth. Grandmother gone, Father gone, Mother gone. Hằng never would have crossed the sea on a rotting fishing boat if he weren’t waiting for her. It has taken too many years, but finally, since landing here yesterday, the two of them are enveloped in the same landscape and the same heat.”Along the way to Amarillo, she meets LeeRoy, a young man her age who has left home to pursue his dream to become a cowboy. He is following around his favorite country singer, when he gets roped into helping Hằng find her brother. Although their languages are drastically different, LeeRoy can understand her way of speaking and is patient and kind. They come to enjoy each other’s company and an awkward friendship develops.Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai is....read more on https://booknationbyjen.com/2019/12/0...

Donna

July 22, 2020

As a librarian this is a book I want to rip the stickers off and just hand to people who want something 'good' to read. It will sit on the shelf in the teen area - I'll make sure it is face out at my branch - and may not be picked up. I will certainly be thrusting in at people at a respectable 1.5 metre distance, thank you social distancing.Teen books feature teen characters - they are not just for teens to read. Oh, why am I bothering here ... I'm preaching to the converted! This book is full of heart, humour, warmth, tragedy, hope and many memorable characters. And, sweet mother, how many books am I going to read this year that require tissues! Not ideal in times of a pandemic that has elicited waves of panic buying. *looks in listopia for funniest books ever*

Liza

November 06, 2019

Update: I listened to this audiobook nearly two months ago and can't stop thinking about it! Is it on your TBR list? If not, add it ASAP. #wndb!!!!Butterfly Yellow is a gripping novel that is rich on details, describing the harrowing struggle for survival as Hằng tries to reconnect with her brother Linh. They have been a part for six years, and Hằng's unwavering determination to find Linh will keep readers on the edge of their seats. He's in America and has a new family. Hằng is the sister who sent him away from their home country of Viet Nam. What she endured to find him shows the power of the human spirit in the absolute worst conditions.There are many things that make this an unforgettable novel. The Texas landscape and Thanhha's description make it bloom before your eyes. You'll feel the the unbreakable ties Hằng has with her family both in Texas and with those left behind in Viet Nam—neither death nor separation can break them. And then there's kind, thoughtful LeeRoy. He becomes the glue in the most unexpected way. Filled with heart, heartbreak, beauty and hope, this novel explores the horrors of war, hate, family, friendship, and a sweet budding love story that will stay with readers long after the last page.Highly recommend this audiobook!

Richie

May 27, 2019

Richie’s Picks: BUTTERFLY YELLOW by Thanhhà Lai, HarperCollins, September 2019, 304p., ISBN: 978-0-06-222921-2“Up to 70 dead after boat capsizes trying to reach Europe from Libya”-- headline from earlier this month“I will remember youWill you remember me?”--Sarah McLachlan (1995)“In the final days of the war in April 1975, Hằng thought she was so clever, devising a way to flee while her family strategized and worried. Every day newspapers printed stories about Americans panicking to save hundreds of orphans. There was even an official name, Operation Babylift. She assumed she and her brother would go first, then somehow her family would join them in America. But in line at the airport she was rejected, a twelve-year-old passing as eight. Linh was five, three to foreign eyes, just young enough to be accepted as an orphan. Hằng saw little Linh thrashing as he was carried into a Pan Am.By the time her brother was ripped from her, nobody cared to hear why she lied. With so many scrambling to flee before the victorious Communists marched in, one more screaming child was just that. An American volunteer with puffy, sweaty hands must have felt sorry for her. He pressed a card into her palm as he pushed her away from the ladder. Sun rays radiated through each strand of his mango-colored hair. She had to stop an impulse to extinguish the fiery puff of gold threads on his head. He was the last to board. Hằng screamed until the Pan Am blended into the sky and left a long loose-curl cloud. For hours, until dusk enveloped her and mosquitoes chased her home, she focused skyward and pleaded for forgiveness. When she opened her palm, the card had disintegrated except for one clue: 405 Mesquite Street, Amarillo, Texas.Returning home that day, she faced her grandmother with a confession sinking down her tongue. Upon hearing the three words, ‘Em mất rồi,’ he is gone, Bà immediately puckered her lips as if biting a lemon and was helpless against the red rimming around her eyes. After a long lumpy exhale, she concluded her grandson had been kidnapped.Only Hằng, her mother, and Bà remained in the house after the war. They were told her father had been killed shortly before the winning north rolled their tanks into the southern capital. Her mother sank into bed and stayed. But Bà, vowing they would not become a house of weeping women, wrote down the beginning of hundreds of steps needed to reclaim her grandson. First, they must save money. Next, they must write to her uncle in Dallas, telling him to go to the address. Hằng never corrected Bà’s assumption. During the day, as Bà clicked her nails and plotted, Hằng could pretend innocence. After all, Bà didn’t ask, how did they get to the airport? Were there other children? Who thought he was an orphan? Why didn’t Hằng scratch, bite, and scream to keep her brother beside her? It was so easy to stay quiet as Bà provided herself with answers. But while crickets sang and Bà snored beside her, the lie streaked through Hằng’s blood and deposited ashy guilt inside every crevice. The gray guilt had grown heavy, refusing to pause its relentless infusion into her joints and marrow. After all, it was her fault her brother was taken.”Six years later, in the summer of 1981, Hằng makes it halfway around the world to Texas. By now, her mother and grandmother Bà are dead. There is just the uncle in Texas, who was unable to locate Linh at the address on that business card. He expects eighteen-year-old Hằng to behave like an obedient child. But with all those years of guilt weighing on her, nothing is going to stop this young woman from completing the reunion of siblings for which she is so desperate. Ignoring her uncle, Hằng boards a Greyhound for Amarillo. But she gets carsick and then fails to get back on board in time before the bus departs after a rest stop break.Out there in the middle of nowhere, fate brings Hằng together with LeeRoy, a high school graduate and city boy from Austin whose desire is to become a cowboy rather than follow the college path his educated parents have advocated. He’s just left home in search of his dream. This odd pair of eighteen-year-olds ends up traveling together in search of Hằng’s brother. BUTTERFLY YELLOW is the sweet and incredibly comedic story of what happens after they catch up with Linh.After a while, you can imagine something happening between these eighteen-year-olds who come to rely upon one another on many levels. But, in terms of boyfriend-and-girlfriend matters, both Hằng and LeeRoy are totally clueless. Their innocence coupled with their bantering and LeeRoy’s adolescent thought processes make this such a fun read. I would be comfortable sharing this one with the younger end of the YA crowd.The story takes place long ago, but the plight of wartime refugees is still in today’s news. Through Hằng’s story, readers get some intense views at what it’s like to try to escape war at any cost, and how precious it is--back then and, still, today--to find a home in America.Richie Partington, MLISRichie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.comhttps://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/[email protected]

Sarah

May 07, 2020

4/5 starsAssorted thoughts:-I need to preface this review by saying that this was quite a personal read for me. in the seventies my parents fled Vietnam for pretty similar reasons to the protagonist of this novel. She and my mother are basically the same age, in fact, and they're both from South Vietnam. Yesterday I told my mom I was reading this book and what it was about and how sad it was, and she got this faraway look on her face and said she never read things about this time period because it's hard to write a story about a Vietnamese person in this time period that isn't heartbreakingly sad. I can't ever really know or understand what she and my father went through - it's not a time of their lives they like to say very much about - but I know it's an experience that has deeply impacted them, and I know their experiences have influenced the way they raised me, too. And as someone who reads an enormous number of english-language books, it was kind of an incredible experience to read one that was so seeped in Vietnamese culture and language. So I'm really, really glad I picked this one up.-okay, now getting into my actual reflections on the book - one of my favorite parts of this book was the integration of Viet language into the narrative. Hanh's struggle with English is all too understandable - and all too relatable, for me seeing how my parents struggle with English even now after two decades of living in America - because of how different the Viet language structure is. Not to mention she's immigrated to a place she could never have possibly imagined, let alone have the language to describe it. I was pretty delighted that I could understand the Vietnamese language that was used - buom vang! sick title reference!!! - but also that Lai used the phonetic structure of Vietnamese to create Hanh's dialogue. So spelling English words the way they would be spelled in Vietnamese. It was a really innovative way of portraying Hanh's struggle with English, how her knowledge of English maps onto her knowledge of Vietnamese, and how her trying to sound out these words might actually look like. Admittedly I have to wonder if it would be easy to understand that device without knowledge of the Viet language but seeing as I don't have that issue lol I enjoyed it a lot, as well as Hanh's slow progression in learning the language throughout the book and how her language gradually evolved as well.-I didn't grow up in Texas but I did grow up in the south and there's so much that feels authentic in Lai's portrayal of that experience in terms of what it's like to be an Asian in a place where there are very few Asians around you. At the same time it feels like a very compassionate portrayal too, which is needed to balance out the more gruesome parts of the book.-Speaking of which, oh god are there some hard-hitting parts of this book. The flashbacks to how Hanh actually got to America are hard to read, but I really liked Lai's portrayal of Hanh's trauma. How the memories can come out of seemingly nowhere, triggered by something that seemed innocuous on the surface; how hard it is to talk about what's happened to you; how you've become so used to the trauma and pain that a story that seems happy to you could be incredibly devastating to someone else. and i especially like how Hanh was able to get to a place where she could begin to heal - surrounded by people who care about her and who don't pressure her to talk or do anything she doesn't want to do, to come to them at her own time. it feels very needed.-Themes of friendship, the complexity of family and identity - all very good and well-explored here, in my opinion. And I like that the story between Hanh and LeeRoy was left a bit open-ended. It feels like she needs more time to heal and recover, and that's okay.-Just some damned good and hard-hitting writing. Deceptively simple, but all the more powerful for it.Crits/warnings:-A lot of triggering content in this book. Hanh is a refugee of the Viet War whose refugee application was expedited due to "extreme trauma". So take from that what you will.-I have to say LeeRoy's character took a bit to grow on me, but he did by the end. also i'm honestly not, like, the hugest fan of the romantic subplot but i think it was pretty well done for what it was, and that's not really what the story was about anyway.-I would have liked to see more development in the relationship between her and David, although the implication I guess is they will begin to get to know each other after the end of the story.-And this is more of a general crit than one of this book but one thing my mom and i discussed last night is that it would be nice to see more stories about vietnamese people not about this time period since most stories about viet people, if they exist at all, tend to be about the viet war. but at the same time i understand the importance of telling stories about our trauma, especially from our perspective, and it's totally unfair to pin all my hopes of representation on one book, and also there are so few stories about and centering on viet people/viet voices to begin with. i hope stories like this pave the way for more stories in the future.Overall impressions: this one hit me kind of hard, in a personal way. Overall I found this a moving and beautifully written story. Hanh is a wonderfully complex protagonist; I'll be thinking about her for another while yet.

Nguyễn

December 17, 2019

Thanhhà Lại is one of the rare writers who can infuse humour into painful stories of war, refugees, and missing relatives. She did it so well in her previous two books, Inside Out and Back Again; Listen, Slowly; and now, in Butterfly Yellow. While reading this third novel of hers, I couldn't help but laughed out loud while tears were still running down my cheeks. Hằng and LeeRoy couldn't be more different: one is a girl from Vietnam who barely speaks English and who is searching for her missing brother, one is a boy from Texas who is carefree and on his way to a fun summer. They are both drawn to cowboys, though, and so they meet, and their common adventures begin.Throughout the book, Thanhhà is generous with witty conversations, humorous observations and vivid descriptions of food, nature, and landscapes. If you are thinking this book is a light read, you are in for a real treat. By turning each page of Butterfly Yellow, you will be peeling away a layer of mystery and shining the light onto Hằng's trauma: the way she dresses, the things that happened to her missing brother, to her parents and grandmother, and how she survived the boat trip across the turbulent ocean. It is via the help of the kind people around her that Hằng will be able to recover. This is so true, as in the cases of many victims of trauma. And Hằng's love for her brother is instrumental for her survival and recovery, too.What I really enjoy in this book is how Hằng speaks English in the Vietnamese way: adding total marks to English words, so that she can pronounce them like she would Vietnamese language. I bet young readers will enjoy figuring out what Hằng says and afterwards double-checking their guesses against LeeRoy's interpretations.What a fun and meaningful read. Highly recommended.

Brittany

January 27, 2023

Unless you are great with linguistics, even if you are, I HIGHLY recommend the audio version of this book. It adds a powerful element to a novel that features language so much.This was powerful, and Lai did a phenomenal job bringing these characters to life. Hằng narrates this tale with her faltering English in an attempt to reunite with her brother, that was separated from her at the end of the Việt Nam War. Her journey takes her to a ranch with real cowboys, a brother with no memory of her, and a nefarious uncle with a fight to get custody of them both. This was written fohigher-agedaged Middle Grade or Lower aged Young Adult audience, yet great for any age. The historical topics of the time period come through but it has more to do with Hằng trying to assimilate into the American culture primarily through learning the English language. Tresonatednate with me more than some readers with my familiarity with being on the other side and learning the Chinese language and culture. Thanhha Lai wrote this poetically, and much culture bleeds through. It is easy to tell that she has first-hand experience with much of the struggles of her MC. Simply beautiful. 5 Stars.

tasha ~unabridged~

September 11, 2022

This book was the poem I needed. Hâng was so fragile yet strong at the same time, I wanted to hug her, but also keep my distance. Her trauma, told in no more than a few heart wrenching pages, was as tangible as the book itself. But her determination and love for her brother was so much stronger. She managed to inspire me and break my heart throughout the course of 294 pages. LeeRoy was a joy. The author made such a loveable character out of true wanna be cowboy, I couldn’t stop reading and rooting for him. He was such a hero to Hâng, and his presence made the weight she carried bearable. The story was beautifully written, and I think ‘haunt’ is the proper word to describe what it will do to me from here on out.

Sara

October 07, 2022

This book was delightful. I suspect some of the grammar nuances and writing quirkiness vanished in the audiobook version because of the first-person telling.It isn't a perfect book, the plot has some conveniences you are supposed to look around, but the story itself - of two people so dramatically different in the 80s before globalization and the Internet shrunk the world - is poignant and quirky and makes one think about being locked up inside of oneself without an accessible language.The bigger story, beyond the plot, is what defines a person, a family, a culture? What defines language and how does it define a life?

Sam

December 19, 2019

4.5 stars; very good, like her other books, though it took me a while to get through. I’d imagine that, (again) like her other books, this would become a favorite if I gave it a second read.

Lauren

March 14, 2022

I really enjoyed this for the most part, though found it to be very disjointed, and difficult to read at times because of this, often having to go back and re-read to make sense of what was happening.Some of that is on purpose due to the language barrier as the main character, Hằng, is from Vietnam and speaks in broken English, which I found appropriate and not disruptive to the story. I actually liked the touch of Hằng using Vietnamese words or syllables to create the English sounds, and while it was sometimes difficult to make out what she was supposed to be saying, for the most part she had her new friend LeeRoy there to translate immediately by repeating what she said, and the rest of the time you could still pick it out contextually...I do understand how this could make the book frustrating for some, but usually when WE the reader couldn't understand, another character in the story couldn't understand it either, which I think was intentional and also highlighted the importance of the connection she made with LeeRoy the moment they met.Language aside, the storytelling itself felt fragmented, and also just not very clear at times in the flashbacks. Hằng is a young girl who comes to Texas on her own after losing her father during the war and then her mother while they escape Vietnam to look for her younger brother, Linh, who was only five when he was taken from Hằng's arms and brought to the United States to be adopted as an "orphan" of the Vietnam War. Her trip to find him is clearly traumatic, even more traumatic than what she suffered during the war, and we're given her memories in pieces for the most part, until she's able to mentally go back and relive the worst of them. But the description of this is just...too flowery, maybe? There were parts where I was like wait, is this literal or metaphorical, because the author goes back and forth between describing something that actually happened and then using a lot of language that could go either way and for what was going on, it was just TOO MUCH. There's reading between the lines and then there's being fully unable to decipher where the lines even are.What I loved was the coming-of-age aspect for both Hằng and LeeRoy, the boy she meets by chance while looking for her brother, who at this point was adopted more than five years earlier. I also loved their connection to each other, especially given LeeRoy's reluctance to help her at first, and how their relationship grows throughout the book, leaving us on a kind of cliffhanger, though we have a pretty good idea as to how things will work out for them in the future. I also thought Hằng's inability to connect with her brother – who at 11 is now a full-blown American cowboy with only slight sense memories of his time before being adopted – was done really well, especially with how his refusal to recognize Hằng as his sister showed some deep-seated trauma with having been separated from her and probably subconsciously blaming her for being taken from his family. It's not an easy solve, nor should it be, especially as Linh's adoptive mother Cora fears Hằng will try to steal him away from her and Linh fears potentially losing everything he has ever known. Even at the end, while the relationships between Hằng and both Linh and Cora has improved, it's still not the dream she thought reuniting with Linh would be, and I liked that the author left the continued healing out in the open rather than tying it up neatly with him suddenly remembering things and choosing her over Cora. It was also impactful to see Hằng so easily become connected to LeeRoy, a stranger who was so foreign to her in every way, while struggling to relate to someone she was once closer to than anyone else in the world.Lots of great things here and definitely four-star worthy for me despite the few drawbacks with how the story was told at times. I think I just would have been more engaged if the connection between Hằng's past and present wasn't so jarring or metaphorical. Her motives could not have been more clear, but it was hard to see her as a three-dimensional person at times because it seemed she was literally ALL motive, and nothing else.

Cass

May 12, 2020

Butterfly Yellow (UQP 2020) by Vietnamese / American Thanhha Lai is an extraordinary own voices story of the trauma of a refugee combined with the unlikely friendship between two young people. Inspired by the author’s own experience of being a refugee, this YA novel tells the tale of Hang, a child who – in the last days of the Vietnam War – takes her even younger brother Linh to the airport in a desperate bid to get away to safety. But while Linh is snatched from her arms and put on a plane, Hang is left behind, too old (at 12) to board. The only clue to her brother’s destination is the card thrust into her hand, which reads ‘Amarillo, Texas’. When she returns home, her family are determined to locate Linh and reunite the family. It takes Hang six years to find her way to America as a refugee, a difficult and troubled journey during which she suffers terrible trauma. When she finally reaches the USA, she stumbles upon a wannabe cowboy, LeeRoy, who is travelling from the city to attend his dream rodeo. Thrown together by chance, LeeRoy grudgingly assists Hang to get to Amarillo, but when they arrive, she discovers not the small brother she remembers, but an 11-year-old boy, now renamed David, who doesn’t remember her or his family, and who seems quite happy and content with his new life in a new country. This is a literary novel that quite beautifully expresses the experience of grief and loss through lyrical prose that hides sharp barbs of pain and trauma. Hang’s experiences are subtly hinted at throughout the beginning of the novel, then more closely drawn out towards the end, when we realise the extent to which she has suffered and lost in her quest to rescue her brother. The enormity of her disappointment when she realises that what she has found is quite different to what she set out to look for, is confronting and saddening. So too is the realisation that life doesn’t always work out to plan, even if you have made great sacrifices and overcome huge obstacles to reach your destination. LeeRoy is a wonderful character in the novel – sharp, witty, funny and warm. He and Hang are polar opposites in almost every way, without even a language in common, and yet they are drawn together. The language in fact was the only aspect of this novel that I found difficult to engage with, and that may obviously be more to do with me as a white reader than the author. But Hang speaks in very heavily accented English, often written phonetically as she would pronounce the words in Vietnamese, and I found it quite jarring to have to keep stopping every few lines and attempt to parse her meaning. No doubt other readers will find this less difficult, but for me, I thought it frequently took me out of the story as I tried to interpret her meaning. In fact language is a subject that is dissected and examined throughout the story, as LeeRoy too struggles with Hang’s words, and as he teaches her ‘conversational English’. Nevertheless, this is a well-written and engaging novel that offers much to YA readers in terms of the refugee experience. Butterfly Yellow is dedicated: ‘In memory of the unknowable number of refugees at the bottom of the sea’ and is an exquisitely painful reminder of the anxiety and trauma faced by people fleeing for their lives and the risks they take. But it is also a book of courage, hope and humour, and the indomitable optimism of the human spirit.

Renee

June 22, 2021

Humorous & touching. LeeRoy and Hang become friends--and then more than friends--as LeeRoy helps Hang connect to a long-lost brother. Hang is inspirational in her ability to overcome the inner and outer scars from her hard life in Vietnam and perilous journey to reach America. I look forward to reading more of this author's books.

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However, most audiobook apps work across multiple devices so you can pick up that riveting new Stephen King book you started at the dog park, back on your laptop when you get back home.

Speechify is one of the best apps for audiobooks. The pricing structure is the most competitive in the market and the app is easy to use. It features the best sellers and award winning authors. Listen to your favorite books or discover new ones and listen to real voice actors read to you. Getting started is easy, the first book is free.

Research showcasing the brain health benefits of reading on a regular basis is wide-ranging and undeniable. However, research comparing the benefits of reading vs listening is much more sparse. According to professor of psychology and author Dr. Kristen Willeumier, though, there is good reason to believe that the reading experience provided by audiobooks offers many of the same brain benefits as reading a physical book.

Audiobooks are recordings of books that are read aloud by a professional voice actor. The recordings are typically available for purchase and download in digital formats such as MP3, WMA, or AAC. They can also be streamed from online services like Speechify, Audible, AppleBooks, or Spotify.
You simply download the app onto your smart phone, create your account, and in Speechify, you can choose your first book, from our vast library of best-sellers and classics, to read for free.

Audiobooks, like real books can add up over time. Here’s where you can listen to audiobooks for free. Speechify let’s you read your first best seller for free. Apart from that, we have a vast selection of free audiobooks that you can enjoy. Get the same rich experience no matter if the book was free or not.

It depends. Yes, there are free audiobooks and paid audiobooks. Speechify offers a blend of both!

It varies. The easiest way depends on a few things. The app and service you use, which device, and platform. Speechify is the easiest way to listen to audiobooks. Downloading the app is quick. It is not a large app and does not eat up space on your iPhone or Android device.
Listening to audiobooks on your smart phone, with Speechify, is the easiest way to listen to audiobooks.

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