Summary
The cowboy brings gifts: beef jerky, chips, chocolate, grapes, and a still-breathing catfish. Hà brings a candy bar to eat at school. Later Mrs. Washington learns Hà eats her lunch in the bathroom. Hà doesn’t know how to explain her anxiety about eating in the lunchroom. Mrs. Washington says she’ll pack her a lunch that she can eat in class, which Hà says is against the rules. But the next day Miss Scott allows her to eat in class. Two students run into class, giggling. Hà expects them to laugh at her, but the kids smile. They introduce themselves as Pam, a white girl who has long red hair, and Steven, a black boy with a shaved head who is dressed better than people dress for church. In her diary, Hà writes that October 14 is her Most Relieved Day. She was saving the title for the day of her father’s return, but he can have the title: My Life’s Best Day.
When Pink Boy can’t multiply 18 by 42, Hà goes to the board and chalks up the answer. Pam and Steven look horrified as Hà smiles. She knows Pink Boy will retaliate, but for now she feels smart again. On the playground a group of bronze-skinned girls braid and barrette Hà’s hair. She keeps them in overnight, but her hair remains straight when the girls remove the barrettes the next day. Vū Lee delivers newspapers in the morning, flips burgers after school, and at sunset teaches Bruce Lee moves in the front yard. Everyone in the class wears yellow.
Miss Scott shows the class photos of where Hà is from. A burned, naked girl running down a dirt road; people climbing and screaming to get on the last helicopter out of Saigon; skeletal refugees on sinking fishing boats; mounds of combat boots abandoned by soldiers of the losing side. Hà thinks she should have shown photos of papayas and of the lunar new year celebrations. No one would believe her, but sometimes Hà would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.
On Halloween, Hà arrives to school and everyone is in costume; she didn’t know it was pretend day. Pink Boy asks what she is and says she has a pancake face. She understands this means her face is flat, and cries about it to her mother at home. Her mother chants and pats Hà’s back.
Hà learns that Mrs. Washington’s son died fighting in Vietnam. She never thought the name of her country could sound so sad. Hà asks if Mrs. Washington hates her, and she hugs Hà. Hà tells her about the pancake comment. She shows her photos her son Tom had sent home, photos of the country he loved and hated equally. Hà points to a photo of a papaya tree and shouts “du du,” and they laugh about how it sounds similar to doo-doo. Mrs. Washington tells her to take the book home.
The cowboy shows up before school; Mrs. Washington told him about the pancake comment. He accompanies Hà and her mother and Quang to school, where they have a meeting with the principal and Pink Boy and his mother. People argue and then Pink Boy apologizes. Her mother says she knows he is from a proper family and did not realize the damage of his insult. Quang translates, and Pink Boy’s eyes let Hà know he hates her even more.
Miss Scott shows Hà photographs of Vietnam and a statue of the Buddha reclining. The class mimics how Hà says Boo-Da, whispering all day until they chase her while shouting after school. One of them pulls her hair: she runs, fire, sourness, confusion, and shame surging from her gut. At home she digs a hole and screams “I hate everyone!” into it. Mrs. Washington takes her inside and tries to console her, telling her to hush. Quang returns home triumphant, having repaired a car that no one else could. Hà pouts, wondering when it will be her turn to feel success.
Hà confesses why she is so miserable. She admits to buying less pork to buy fried dough. Her mother already knows. Hà says she used to like making the girl who shared her desk cry. She says she tapped her big toe on the tile floor first because she hates being told she can’t do something because she’s a girl. Her mother nods. Hà asks if she ruined the family’s luck, and her mother says it was just superstition; if anything she gave the family luck, because they got out and came to America. Hà doesn’t believe they are lucky to be there, and her mother insists she must wait. Hà asks if she can hit the kids who tease her. Her mother says sometimes you have to fight, but preferably not with your fists.
At school, when they shout Boo-Da, Hà shouts Gee-Sus, Gee-Sus. She calls them bullies and cowards and snot faces, words learned from the playground. On Friday Hà learns that Pink Boy has gotten his sixth-grade cousin to agree to beat up Hà on Monday. She makes a plan with Khôi. After school on Monday, she runs out where Khôi was supposed to meet her but sees Pink Boy suddenly there. He runs toward her clenching his fist and she squats. When he is close, she shifts her upper body to the left and knocks him over. As he writhes on the pavement, he looks weaker and more helpless than she’d expected. She considers kicking him before he gets up, but Vū Lee arrives on a gigantic motorcycle and Pink Boy disappears. Khôi runs up out of breath and pushing his bicycle, which has a flat tire. They ride the motorcycle home. From then on, Vū Lee picks Hà up after school. Students save lunch seats for Hà, Pam, and Steven, and invite them to parties, hoping Vū Lee will offer a ride on his motorcycle—including Pink Boy’s cousin, who smiles and waves. Pink Boy avoids Hà, and she is glad.
The cowboy and his wife bring early Christmas gifts: fresh catfish, college tuition, jerky, fighting fish, a new coat for Hà. Mrs. Washington brings gifts too, and Hà is incensed when her gift of dried papaya is not as good as the gifts the rest of the family received. She throws it in the trash, wondering if she’ll ever taste sweet, tender, orange flesh of a fresh one again. She finds on the table the dried papaya soaked in water. The bites are moist and chewy; not the same, but not bad at all.
Analysis
The motif of food and Hà’s love of snacks continues with the food the host gifts Hà. However, Mrs. Washington discovers that Hà has been eating alone in the bathroom, as she has not been able to adapt to the lunchroom culture. Though it is normally against the rules, to Hà’s great relief Mrs. Washington arranges with Miss Scott to allow Hà to eat in the classroom. Though Hà doesn’t seem to be aware of it, it seems clear that Miss Scott encouraged Pam and Steven to befriend Hà to help her adapt to the new school.
With friends, things seem to be going better for Hà. However, she feels Miss Scott’s depiction of Vietnam—an attempt to explain to the children what desperate circumstances Hà has fled—leaves out the full story about her country. Without papaya and new year’s celebrations, life in Vietnam appears grim. However, Hà sometimes prefers her familiar yet war-torn life to what she has endured in Alabama.
Though the figures of authority in Hà’s life attempt to intervene in her conflict with Pink Boy, the bullying becomes so great that Hà confesses to her misery. Despite people’s generosity, the language barrier, cultural differences, and racism have become too much for her to take. She believes the family is being punished because she put her big toe on the tile and ruined the blessing. Her mother tries to make her understand that they are lucky to have gotten out, and that she will see one day, but Hà is only able to see the difficulties of the present.
After retaliating against Pink Boy, returning to him the insults she had learned on the playground, Hà learns that he is mounting a planned attack with the help of his cousin. But when the time comes, Hà’s self-defense tactics, as taught by Vū, help her knock him over. Her entire social standing changes after that day: with his motorcycle, Vū Lee’s cool appeal transfers to Hà, and she can go to school without fear.
Though things have been improving, Hà still feels slighted when her older family members receive better gifts than her from Mrs. Washington. The dried papaya is a poor stand-in for the soft, juicy flesh she has longed for throughout the book. But her mother teaches Hà that she must adapt: by soaking the dried papaya, she can attain something closer to what she longs for. Hà admits it is not the same as the fresh papaya was at home, but neither is it bad. The statement represents Hà gradual acceptance that though things may be different in America, it does not mean they are necessarily unacceptable.
