May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and this year, as marked by the Federal Asian Pacific American Council, is for celebrating the “Legacy of Leadership and Resilience” of the wide-reaching diaspora. Today, for our Book Club Spotlight, we celebrate author Ly Tran and her family’s story of resilience, as Chinese-Vietnamese (Tang Dynasty Teochew) refugees to the United States. Her memoir, House of Sticks, was a New York City Book Awards Winner, and one of Vogue and NPR’s Best Book of the Year.
“We arrive in the blizzard of 1993, coming from rice paddies, mango trees, and the sun to February in the Empire State.” At three years old, Ký Lý and her family of 6 are sent to the United States, as part of a humanitarian effort to relocate South Vietnamese prisoners of war. Though she doesn’t quite understand it, Ly’s father was one of those men, confined in the Viet Cong re-education camps of torture and indoctrination. However, America was not the fresh start they were sold. The family struggles in poverty, resorting to endless nights of sewing garments in their cramped and dirty apartment to barely make ends meet. As she grows, Ly recognizes the dour circumstances around her, and her parent’s ceaseless effort to create a life for their children- free from the horrors of the past. In an attempt to protect her family from more hardship, Ly learns to hide the cruelty of others from her parents and to hide herself as well.
“Even the most monstrous of faces that I could conjure always had the same pained look in their eyes. And I imagined that they feared the dark just as much as I did.”
Ly Tran
For Adult Book Club Groups who are fans of moving family memoirs like Educated and The Glass Castle, House of Sticks is a story of filial piety, and how the trauma of our parents move within us and propel our lives. How pressures of helping support a family, and neglect can weigh on a child into their adult years. Though Tran spends much of her memoir away from her family, they are a part of her and influence every step she takes. She was especially her traumatized father, but her ability for compassion and understanding helped bridge the long-worn gaps between them. Reading stories like House of Sticks can open us up to new perspectives and peoples. When we celebrate the melting pot of the United States, like with AAPI month, it’s important to take the time and learn about our history together. Even before we were a country, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians have been a part of our legacy.
If you’re interested in requesting House of Sticks for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 8 copies and an Audio CD. (A librarian must request items)
Tran, Ly. House of Sticks. Scribner. 2022.
