It was good to revisit the characters, especially Ha. There were definitely great moments of storytelling but I found the author notes at the end the most powerful- on how she came to writing a sequel 10 years after the first story came out and showing the progression of language and how the Vietnamese family finds their way in the United States. I did have to go back and reread parts of she text for full understanding- due ro language and following train of thought of Ha in the story.