Family Style by Thien Pham

Thien Pham's very first memory was of when he was five years old and his parents, Ha and Quang and his younger brother were in a boat on the sea, fleeing Vietnam. His mother told him not to drink the sea water as it would only make him more thirsty. There was no more food or water and their boat was falling apart. They encountered a large boat that offered them food and water if they paid for it. Thien remembers the delicious watermelon he was given on the big boat. But he and his family were put back on their rickety boat because of threats from pirates.

A pirate boat attacked their small boat. During the attack, Thien's mother held him and told him to keep his eyes closed. Afterwards, Thien remembered the delicious rice ball his mother had saved from the larger ship: "the saltiness of the fish, the sweetness of the rice." Eventually they made it to shore and were bused to Songkhla refugee camp, home to over six thousand, five hundred refugees. Thien's family was able to get housing by paying for it.

At Songkhla, Thien meets Tuan whose family has been at the camp for a long time. Tuan shows Thien around the camp and helps him settle in. Meanwhile his parents get some clothing and food. To earn some money, Thien's father buys a banh cuon stall from Tuyet, a refugee woman leaving the next day for Australia. Tuyet teachers Thien's mother how to make banh cuon. For three months the Phams operate the stall until they are eventually chosen to go to America. 

They arrive in San Jose, California where they are met by the man who sponsored them. Russ takes them to his apartment and cooks them a steak dinner. They stay with Russ for two weeks. Then while unsuccessfully trying to hail a taxi after visiting the Social Security office, Ha and Quang met Nhan, a Vietnamese man who has been in the United States for three years. He explains that many Viet refugees live in a low-income apartment complex, take classes in the day and work at night.

When Russ's landlord tells him the Vietnamese must leave or he will be evicted, the Phams move into an apartment in Nhan's building. There Thien meets his old friend Tuan from the refugee camp. He introduces Thien to potato chips.

Discussion

In Family Style, Thien Pham's graphic memoir tackles the refugee experience from a different perspective, that of foods he experienced along his journey. Each stage of Pham's journey from fleeing Vietnam in a rickety boat, to life in a refugee camp, beginning again in America, growing up as a teenager and even working as a teacher, is defined by a memorable meal or food.

On the refugee boat, the tasty rice ball comes to represent survival, while in Songkhla refugee camp the delicious banh cuon comes to represent hope in the future. When they arrive in San Jose, Russ's steak dinner serves as a welcome to a new land, while the potato chips that Tuan introduces Thien to come to represent some of the good things Thien and his family are experiencing in America. The delicious strawberries that Thien and his family taste after working so hard during the night to pick them, signify the hard work his family must do to stay afloat in America. The Salisbury steak that Thien samples at school and does like signifies the adjustments he and his family will have to make to fit in. Sharing com tam dac biet with his special friend Linda, remind Pham of his heritage and this reminder comes years later when Thien becomes an American citizen and celebrates with his parents and a dinner of his favourite foods, ca kho and rau muong. 

Amidst all these memories of food, Thien Pham and his family struggle to attain the "American dream", opening a croissant restaurant that morphs into a video store.  Meanwhile Thien is shown to experience all the struggles of fitting in with peers that most teens do, working a job, attending high school, and dealing with a first crush.

Despite all the challenges Thien Pham and his family faced, Family Style captures a spirit of joy, hope and sense of family that many Viet refugees brought to America and Canada. Pham's memoir highlights how Viet families helped one another, from those who swam out from shore at the refugee camp every time a new boat appeared, to the children who helped new arrivals settle into camp or at school in America, to how families helped one another to survive and achieve success in a new country by finding housing and work.

This engaging and heartwarming graphic novel is for fans of When Stars Are Scattered, American Born Chinese and other stories of the refugee experience. 

Book Details:

Family Style. Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham
New York:  First Second     2023
235 pp.