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A YEAR WITHOUT HOME

Name: A YEAR WITHOUT HOME
Author: V.T. Bidania
ISBN: 9780593697207

by V.T. Bidania ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 13, 2026

A lyrical, heartfelt account of personal growth and endurance.

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Bidania distills her family’s experiences as refugees into resonant historical fiction.

It’s 1975, and Gao Sheng lives “in a sunny mountain town” in Pao Kao, Laos, in a house with plenty of room for her extended family: nine adults and 11 kids. Eleven-year-old Gao Sheng silently, obediently helps with cooking, shopping, and child care: “This is what’s expected / of the oldest daughter.” When the communists take over, her father’s army service alongside Americans puts the family at risk, forcing them to flee. The scattered clan members endure separation, survive two Thai refugee camps, and start new lives in America. Gao Sheng is an insightful witness, keenly aware of her 8-year-old brother’s elevated status just because he’s male, while she’s overlooked: “My arms drop to my sides, / limp and wilted.” Despite disappointments, she’s steadfast in fulfilling her mature responsibilities. But when she finally refuses to keep quiet—“Today / I will be loud / I will show my strength”—her family sees and eventually acknowledges and proudly appreciates her. An epilogue describes Gao Sheng’s arrival in Wisconsin with her parents and siblings. The candid verse deftly grounds precious experiences in tangible reminders—peach seeds that Gao Sheng saves to plant “someday, / when the country is at peace,” and soft buns that taste “like sugar and happiness.” With inviting vulnerability, Bidania transforms her war-torn past into a rallying cry to “build empathy, curiosity, and awareness.”

A lyrical, heartfelt account of personal growth and endurance. (author’s note, photos) (Verse historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026

ISBN: 9780593697207

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
ASTRID AND APOLLO AND THE STARRY CAMPOUT
by V.T. Bidania ; illustrated by Dara Lashia Lee

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ON THE HORIZON

by Lois Lowry ; illustrated by Kenard Pak ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2020

A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history.

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In spare verse, Lowry reflects on moments in her childhood, including the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.

When she was a child, Lowry played at Waikiki Beach with her grandmother while her father filmed. In the old home movie, the USS Arizona appears through the mist on the horizon. Looking back at her childhood in Hawaii and then Japan, Lowry reflects on the bombings that began and ended a war and how they affected and connected everyone involved. In Part 1, she shares the lives and actions of sailors at Pearl Harbor. Part 2 is stories of civilians in Hiroshima affected by the bombing. Part 3 presents her own experience as an American in Japan shortly after the war ended. The poems bring the haunting human scale of war to the forefront, like the Christmas cards a sailor sent days before he died or the 4-year-old who was buried with his red tricycle after Hiroshima. All the personal stories—of sailors, civilians, and Lowry herself—are grounding. There is heartbreak and hope, reminding readers to reflect on the past to create a more peaceful future. Lowry uses a variety of poetry styles, identifying some, such as triolet and haiku. Pak’s graphite illustrations are like still shots of history, adding to the emotion and somber feeling. He includes some sailors of color among the mostly white U.S. forces; Lowry is white.

A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history. (author’s note, bibliography) (Memoir/poetry. 10-14)