Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai tells the story of Mai, a 12-year-old Vietnamese American girl who has her summer vacation plans upended when she is told she must accompany her grandmother to Vietnam. The trip is intended to provide closure for her grandmother, who has received a letter that might shed light on the fate of her husband, who disappeared during the Vietnam War. For Mai, this means leaving behind her American life, including her best friend Montana and the boy she has a crush on, to go to a country she barely knows.
Mai is introduced to a world vastly different from her Californian life in Vietnam. She finds herself struggling to understand the language, the culture, and the way of life. Mai is also thrown into the daily operations of her grandfather's rural clinic, which her grandmother runs in his memory. Here, she encounters a diverse cast of characters, each with their own story, and the realities of rural Vietnam, which is marked by poverty and hardship but also by a strong sense of community and resilience.
As the summer unfolds, Mai's resistance to Vietnam slowly dissolves. Her relationship with her grandmother deepens as they await the information about her grandfather's fate. She also forms an unlikely friendship with a young Vietnamese boy named Út, who helps her navigate the new environment. She starts to appreciate her heritage and its significance in her identity.
Towards the end of the novel, when the truth about her grandfather's fate is revealed, it brings a sense of closure for her grandmother and Mai. She returns to the United States, not as the same resentful girl who left, but as someone who has grown to understand her roots and appreciates her heritage.
