“Listen, Slowly,” by Thanhhà Lại, welcomes young readers into the world of Mai, a twelve-year-old Vietnamese American from California whose summer plans are abruptly changed. Instead of the beach, Mai finds herself accompanying her grandmother to Vietnam, a country she knows only through stories. The trip’s purpose is to uncover the fate of her grandfather, who disappeared during the Vietnam War. Thrown into a rural village without modern conveniences, Mai grapples with a language she barely speaks and a culture that feels both foreign and faintly familiar. She navigates her relationship with her grieving grandmother and forges new connections with her extended family and local children, slowly piecing together the puzzle of her family’s past.