The Blue House I Loved
The Blue House I Loved
A Hmong girl tells the story of her beloved aunt and uncle’s first home in America—long gone, but still alive in the family’s memories
The Blue House I Loved centers on a family of newly arrived Hmong refugees who move into the lower level of a duplex in St. Paul, Minnesota. The narrator loves her aunt and uncle’s home with its mismatched furniture, but it is too small for the large family. The boy cousins sleep in the three-season porch, where their wet hair freezes in wintertime, and the rest of the family crowds into two bedrooms. Yet this is the cherished home where they live and love, their own small corner of a very large and unfamiliar place, and in this blue house a young girl learns about her new country. Eventually, the family moves in search of more space, and years later the house is torn down. Where it was, green grass now grows. But for this girl and her family, the ghost of the house remains, its memories a strong thread that holds time at bay and hearts close together.
Combining Kao Kalia Yang’s lyrical prose with ethereal illustrations by artist and architect Jen Shin, The Blue House I Loved speaks to the multitude of refugee experiences around the world, honoring the challenges they face and the homes they create together.
*Buy the book here: https://www.upress.umn.
A Home on the Page
Nou loves her family, and she likes the brown house where they live, surrounded by trees with sheltering branches. But the young Hmong American girl’s sense of safety and belonging is shattered after she wakes one day to find a hateful message spray-painted on the family’s mailbox: “Asians Go Home.” So Nou asks her parents if they can leave.
Nou’s question leads her on a journey to discover where each member of her family finds home. For her father, it is in his songs. For her mother, it is in the garden. In a world that doesn’t always welcome her, where can Nou find home?
This extraordinary story from author Kao Kalia Yang and illustrator Seo Kim tenderly explores how a young girl navigates racism and ultimately turns to writing, creating a home for herself on the page—and in the world.
*Buy the book here: https://lernerbooks.com/
Caged
A poignant picture book about a young Hmong girl born and raised in a refugee camp who imagines what lies beyond the bounds of its borders.
A young Hmong girl has never been outside the camp she lives in with her parents and thousands of other families. Most days, she spends her time playing with her cousins and pretending they can fly above the clouds and far away from here.
When her family’s papers are finally approved, she’s uncertain if she’s ready to leave everything—and everyone—she’s ever known behind. But on the day she leaves, her favorite aunt, Golden Flower, sees her off with the words, Your wings have arrived.
With poetic text by Kalia Kao Yang and stunning art by Khou Vue, Caged is about the power of imagination, resilience, and dreaming of freedom.
For the original soundtrack to the book, visit: https://vimeo.com/1017973148
The Rock in My Throat
At first, no one noticed when I stopped talking at school.
In this moving true story, Kao Kalia Yang shares her experiences as a young Hmong refugee navigating life at home and at school. Having seen the poor treatment her parents received when making their best efforts at speaking English, she no longer speaks at school. Kalia feels as though a rock has become lodged in her throat, and it grows heavier each day. Although the narrative is somber, it is also infused with moments of beauty, love, and hope.
From the Tops of the Trees
Young Kalia has never known life beyond the fences of the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp. The Thai camp holds many thousands of Hmong families who fled in the aftermath of the little-known Secret War in Laos that was waged during America’s Vietnam War. For Kalia and her cousins, life isn’t always easy, but they still find ways to play, racing with chickens and riding a beloved pet dog.
Just four years old, Kalia is still figuring out her place in the world. When she asks what is beyond the fence, at first her father has no answers for her. But on the following day, he leads her to the tallest tree in the camp and, secure in her father’s arms, Kalia sees the spread of a world beyond.
Kao Kalia Yang’s sensitive prose and Rachel Wada’s evocative illustrations bring to life this tender true story of the love between a father and a daughter.
Yang Warriors
Writing on Yang Warriors:
In this inspiring picture book, fierce and determined children confront the hardships of Ban Vinai refugee camp, where Kao Kalia Yang lived as a child. Accompanied by the evocative and rich cultural imagery of debut illustrator Billy Thao, the warriors’ secret mission shows what feats of compassion and courage children can perform, bringing more than foraged greens back to the younger children and to their elders. In this unforgiving place, with little to call their own, these children are the heroes, offering gifts of hope and belonging in a truly unforgettable way.
“Yang Warriors is a gentle reminder that superheroes come in all shapes and sizes. A moving and powerful story of the hope and resilience of a Hmong family.”—Carole Lindstrom, author of We Are Water Protectors
The Most Beautiful Thing: New Book by Kao Kalia.
Drawn from author Kao Kalia Yang’s childhood experiences as a Hmong refugee, this moving picture book portrays a family with a great deal of love and little money. Weaving together Kalia’s story with that of her beloved grandmother, the book moves from the jungles of Laos to the family’s early years in the United States. When Kalia becomes unhappy about having to do without and decides she wants braces to improve her smile, it is her grandmother—a woman who has just one tooth in her mouth—who helps her see that true beauty is found with those we love most. Stunning illustrations from Vietnamese illustrator Khoa Le bring this intergenerational tale to life.
The Shared Room
A family gradually moves forward after the loss of a child—a story for readers of all ages
Tenderly, and with refreshing authenticity, beloved Minnesota writer Kao Kalia Yang tells the story of a Hmong American family living with loss and tremendous love. Bringing a message of comfort and hope to readers young and old, her direct and poignant words are accompanied by the evocative and expressive drawings of Hmong American artist Xee Reiter.
There is such power and pain and beauty in this brave little book. It is a thing to be treasured. Children who have experienced terrible grief in their young lives and are in need of seeing their sorrow reflected and honored have a beautiful friend in this story. The Shared Room is a tender thing—all heart and hope and quiet love. I love it dearly.
—
Kelly Barnhill, author of Newbery Medal Winner The Girl Who Drank the Moon
A MAP INTO THE WORLD: New Book by Kao Kalia Yang
“Filled with wonder and sorrow and happiness.” ―Alison McGhee, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Someday
A heartfelt story of a young girl seeking beauty and connection in a busy world.
As the seasons change, so too does a young Hmong girl’s world. She moves into a new home with her family and encounters both birth and death. As this curious girl explores life inside her house and beyond, she collects bits of the natural world. But who are her treasures for?
A moving picture book debut from acclaimed Hmong American author Kao Kalia Yang.
“Full of heart. And hope. This is exactly the kind of book I want to read to my daughter, and I wish I could hand a copy to every kid. Powerful, beautiful, and transcendent.”―Newbery medalist and New York Times bestselling author Matt de la Peña
“With the clear, careful, and beautiful language we’ve come to expect from her, Kao Kalia Yang unfurls her first children’s book, a journey waiting to reward our every step. This sad but heartening work reminds us how important it is that we care for our neighbors, and in so doing, we may discover we are not so different―a message that our children need now, more than ever.”―Bao Phi, author of A Different Pond
“A young Hmong girl settles into her new home, and as the seasons change, so does the world around her. A Map Into the World is a beautiful and hopeful story about love and loss, family and friendship, and it belongs in every reader’s hands.”―Sarah Park Dahlen, Associate Professor in the MLIS Program at St. Catherine
Forthcoming Books
For questions regarding Kalia’s adult books, please contact:
For questions regarding Kalia’s children’s books, please contact: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary Agency, Inc.
824 Roosevelt Trail #290
Windham, ME 04062F
Phone: 928-525-2056
Email: erin@emliterary.com
To arrange a speaking engagement, contact:
Authors Unbound – Christie Hinrichs
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Thaum Hluas Txog Hnub Laus: When the Days of Youth are Gone (Bee Yang, 2014)
This is an album of Hmong song poetry, kwv txhiaj hmoob, composed and sung by Bee Yang, Kao Kalia Yang’s father. The album notes and English translation of one of the songs are by Kao Kalia Yang.
Kwv txhiaj is, in the words of Ralph Ellison on the American Blues, “an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in one’s aching consciousness, to finger its jagged grain, and to transcend it, not by the consolation of philosophy but by squeezing from it a near-tragic, near-cosmic lyricism. As a form, the blues [and kwv txhiaj] is an autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe expressed lyrically.”
NOTE: The duration of the songs do not reflect the actual song length. Please consider ordering the CD for the full songs. Thank you.
*This CD is available for purchase for $15. Click below to order:
