Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
2025 Reading Challenge—New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century (Reader Favorites)
Readalikes for 'Martyr!'
The Sentence "Totally Biased List of Tookie's Favorite Books" Book Discussion
Readalikes for 'Martyr!'
The Sentence "Totally Biased List of Tookie's Favorite Books" Book Discussion
Description
"Brilliant, heartbreaking, tender, and highly original - poet Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a sweeping and shattering portrait of a family, and a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born--a history whose epicenter is rooted in...
Author
Publisher
Europa Editions
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Isolated from the world in a Vietnamese military encampment, a young girl turns for affection to a sympathetic soldier and to the only other girl in the camp, forming two friendships that will shape the rest of her life. As a young adult in New York, cut off from her native country, she is still in search of a home. She falls in love with a married woman who is the image of her childhood friend, and follows strangers because they remind her of her...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Trixie Nguyen is determined to make her sex toy business a success, proving to her traditional Vietnamese parents that she can succeed in a nontraditional career. She's made a fresh start in Washington DC, and her first pop-up event is going well--until she runs into the ex who dumped her. With a Post-it note. The last person Andre Walker expected to see in his soul food restaurant was the woman he left behind in New Orleans. Their chemistry is still...
Author
Pub. Date
2024.
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Book Picks—May 2024
Most Anticipated Mystery, Thriller, & Horror—Spring 2024
New Releases — April 16, 2024
Most Anticipated Mystery, Thriller, & Horror—Spring 2024
New Releases — April 16, 2024
Description
"Is someone out to get Annie? Or is she her own worst enemy?"--
"In this heart-pounding debut thriller for fans of Lisa Jewell and Celeste Ng, a first-generation Vietnamese American artist must confront nightmares past and present. ... Annie "Anh Le" Shaw grew up poor, but seems to have it all now: a dream career, a stunning home, and a devoted husband and daughter. When Annie's mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie's carefully...
Author
Pub. Date
2023.
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 5.3 - AR Pts: 12
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Seventeen-year-old bisexual Jade Nguyrn is spending the summer in Vietnam at the French colonial house her estranged father is fixing up as a vacation rental, but unbeknownst to her family, the house and its ghosts have other plans.
When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She's always lied to fit in,...
Author
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Formats
Description
Robert, an Oakland cop, still can't let go of Suzy, the enigmatic Vietnamese wife who left him two years ago. Now she's disappeared from her new husband, Sonny, a violent Vietnamese smuggler and gambler who's blackmailing Robert into finding her for him. As he pursues her through the sleek and seamy gambling dens of Las Vegas, shadowed by Sonny's sadistic son, "Junior," and assisted by unexpected and reluctant allies, Robert learns more about his...
Author
Publisher
Revell
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
"When Mindy announces that she is returning to Vietnam to find her birthmother, it inspires her father, mother, and sister to recall the events of her adoption at the end of the Vietnam War during Operation Baby Lift. In this beautiful time-slip story, Mindy's family reexamines what it means to grow together beyond genetic code"--
Author
Publisher
Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Pub. Date
[2024]
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"Evie Lang's life is in shambles. On the heels of losing her beloved aunt, she's unceremoniously fired from her poetry professorship by her secret boyfriend. Lacking income and inspiration, she's stuck in Ohio with no idea how to move forward--until hope arrives in a surprising letter. Auntie Hao left Evie her San Francisco row house, a place full of Evie's happiest memories. The catch? To inherit, she must go on a prearranged matchmaking tour in...
Author
Publisher
Viking
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Discovering a family heirloom that her mother may have received from Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lee Lien explores the tenuous connection between her ancestors and the famous pioneer author only to discover a trail of clues that lead to fateful encounters.
12) A phở love story
Author
Publisher
Simon Pulse
Pub. Date
[2021]
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 4.9 - AR Pts: 14
Language
English
Description
Bảo Nguye̋n would describe himself as steady and strong: his grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents' phở restaurant-- as his parents' fifth favorite employee. Linh Mai would describe herself as a firecracker: stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She dreams pursuing a career in art, while working practically full-time at her family's phở restaurant. Bao and Linh have never even had a...
Author
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
"When Huong arrives in New Orleans with her two young sons, she is jobless, homeless, and worried about her husband, Cong, who remains in Vietnam. As she and her boys begin to settle into life in America, she continues to send letters and tapes back to Cong, hopeful that they will be reunited and her children will grow up with a father. Over time, Huong realizes she will never see Cong again. While she copes with this loss, her sons, Tuan and Binh,...
Author
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Appears on list
Formats
Description
"It started with their ancestor, Oanh, who dared to leave her marriage for true love-so a fearsome Vietnamese witch cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would give birth to daughters, never sons. Oanh's current descendant Mai Nguyen knows this curse well. She's divorced, and after an explosive disagreement a decade ago, she's estranged from her younger sisters, Minh Pham (the middle and...
Author
Publisher
First Second
Pub. Date
2024.
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"Graphic novel superstars Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham join forces in this heartwarming rom-com about fate, family, and falling in love. She was destined for heartbreak. Then fate handed her love. Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed—no one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love. But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion dancers...
Author
Publisher
Crown Books
Pub. Date
2023.
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 6 - AR Pts: 15
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"San Jose, 1999. Jane knows her Vietnamese dad can't control his temper. Lost in a stupid daydream, she forgot to pick up her seven-year-old brother, Paul, from school. Inside their home, she hands her dad the stick he hits her with. This is how it's always been. She deserves this. Not because she forgot to pick up Paul, but because at the end of the summer she's going to leave him when she goes away to college. As Paul retreats inward, Jane realizes...
Interlibrary Loan Request
Didn't find what you need? Items not owned by Des Moines Public Library can be requested from other libraries to be delivered to your local library for pickup.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? If the item was published recently, submit a purchase suggestion. Submit Request