A YEAR WITHOUT HOME, by V. T. Bidania, Nancy Paulsen Books, Jan. 13, 2026, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 10 and up)
A Year Without Home novel in verse about a Hmong girl losing and finding home in the aftermath of the Vietnam War by V. T. Bidania.
For eleven-year-old Gao Sheng, home is the lush, humid jungles and highlands of Laos. Home is where she can roll down the grassy hill with her younger siblings after her chores, walk to school, and pick ripe peaches from her family’s trees.
But home becomes impossible to hold onto when the communist government takes over after U.S. troops pull out of the Vietnam War. The communists will be searching for any American allies, like Gao Sheng’s father, a Hmong captain in the Lao Army who fought alongside the Americans against the Vietnamese. If he’s caught, he’ll be killed.
As the adults frantically make plans – contacting family, preparing a route, and bundling up their silver and gold, Gao Sheng wonders if she will ever return to her beloved Laos and what’s to become of her family now. Gao Sheng only knows that a good daughter doesn’t ask questions or complain. A good daughter doesn’t let her family down. Even though sometimes, she wishes she could be just a kid rolling down a grassy hill again.
On foot, by taxi and finally in a canoe, Gao Sheng and her family make haste from the mountains to the capitol Vientiane and across the rushing Mekong River, to finally arrive at an overcrowded refugee camp in Thailand. As a year passes at the camp, Gao Sheng discovers how to rebuild home no matter where she is and finally find her voice.
Inspired by author V.T. Bidania’s family history, A Year Without Home illuminates the long, difficult journey that many Hmong refugees faced after the Vietnam War. —Synopsis provided by Nancy Paulsen Books
A Year Without Home is a novel in verse for middle graders, but it will make a big impact for readers older than that. And given what’s currently going on with the United States current immigration policies, it’s particularly poignant.
Author V.T. Bidania based A Year Without Home on her own family’s experiences, utilizing interviews with family members and setting the story from the point of view of her oldest sister.
It’s hard to imagine this story told in anything but Bidania’s beautiful verse. It captures all the emotions and events through sparse and meticulously chosen text, emphasizing elements that may otherwise get lost.
A Year Without Home is a thoughtful narrative about the far-reaching impacts of the Vietnam War. It will particularly appeal to fans of historical fiction and stories about world conflicts and refugees.
Copyright © 2026 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
