Thanhhà Lại was born in Vietnam. At the end of the war, she fled with her family to Alabama. There, she learned English from fourth graders and then spent the next decade correcting her grammar. Starting her writing life as a journalist, she worked at The Orange County Register. She switched to fiction, leading to an MFA from New York University and short story publications in various journals and anthologies. Then came Inside Out & Back Again, a National Book Award and Newbery Honor-winning verse novel based in part on her childhood as a refugee in Alabama. Next was Listen, Slowly, another middle grade novel featuring a young Vietnamese-American girl. Butterfly Yellow is her first YA novel. Her debut picture book is Hundred Years of Happiness, illustrated by Phung Nguyen Quang and Huynh Kim Lien.Her latest book is When Clouds Touch Us, the long-awaited sequel to Inside Out & Back Again. When Clouds Touch Us is out May 9th, 2023.Thanhhà lives with her husband, daughter and a little white dog just north of New York City.To stay updated about Thanhhà's writing, visit and follow her on social media:Twitter: twitter.com/ThanhhaLaiInstagram: instagram.com/thanhha_lai