Mai Le, known to her friends as “Mia,” just completed sixth grade and was looking forward to spending her summer on the beach with her friends. Instead, she is on a plane with her father and her Bà (grandmother) headed for Vietnam. Mai’s father is a physician and travels to Vietnam each summer to conduct a surgical clinic in remote, mountainous regions for children with cleft palates and severe burns. Her mom is a lawyer and must stay home for work, so it is Mai’s job to accompany her grandmother back to her homeland. Mai’s parents think the trip will be an opportunity for Mai to connect with her roots, but all she can think about is missing out on time at Anita Beach with her best friend Montana and watching a certain boy she calls “him.” She developed a crush on the unnamed boy when he talked about a poem in English class. Mai worries that the boy will be attracted to Montana since she is developing faster than most girls their age.

Mai’s Bà lives in California near all her children and grandchildren, but she is returning to Vietnam to follow a lead given to her by an investigator about her husband Ông, who went missing in what Mai calls “THE WAR” (4), referring to the Vietnam War.