The Latehomecomer

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2008

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The Latehomecomer

Genre: Nonfiction; memoir/autobiography
Originally Published: 2008
Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 890L; grades 8-12; college/adult
Structure/Length: 15 chapters and prologue; approximately 277 pages; approximately 9 hours, 23 minutes on audio
Central Concern: This memoir tells the story of Kao Kalia Yang’s family and their experiences as Hmong refugees. The narrative recounts the family’s harrowing escape from Laos following the Vietnam War, their time in a Thai refugee camp, and their eventual resettlement in the United States. Yang details the struggles, sacrifices, and resilience of her family as they adapt to a new life while trying to preserve their Hmong heritage and identity.
Potential Sensitivity Issues: Descriptions of war and its aftermath; refugee experiences, including life in refugee camps; loss, cultural dislocation, and assimilation challenges; brief references to sexual assault and miscarriage

Kao Kalia Yang, Author

Bio: Born in 1980 in Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, Thailand; Hmong American writer, teacher, and public speaker; often explores the experiences of the Hmong community in the United States and the complexities of refugee life
Other Works: The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father (2016); Somewhere in the Unknown World: A Collective Refugee Memoir (2020)
Awards: The Minnesota Book Award: Memoir/Creative Nonfiction and Reader’s Choice (2009)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide: