"The Journey of the Ancestor's Gifts" is the fourth and most recent installment in The Nguyen Kids series. (Note: While this is the fourth book in the series, I would define it as a stand-alone. I read it without reading its predecessors prior to and I had no troubles understanding the story.)

In this chapter book, the Nguyen siblings Anne, Liz and Jay travel with their parents to visit their family in Vietnam for the very first time. However, during their stay at their Grandma Nội’s childhood home, not only do they feel a massive disconnect with their ancestors even with their gifts, but they also feel a disconnection with their Vietnamese culture and identity.

This Own Voices book is written in multiple perspectives, rotating between each Nguyen sibling. This writing style is perfect as it allows the reader to understand what each sibling is going through as they explore their Vietnamese culture and sense of belonging and as they learn more about their family and heritage. The book features simple illustrations to help engage readers throughout the story.

This chapter book is great for middle grade readers looking for a story that is diverse and celebrates and explores the Vietnamese culture with hints of fantasy, supernatural, and magical realism.

Anne, Liz and Jay travel to Vietnam with their parents for a vacation, and to connect to their Vietnamese roots. The siblings find the house their aunt lives in feels sad. The kids also don't have the best experience with some neighbourhood kids, who question their right to call themselves Vietnamese. The siblings figure out that their beloved grandmother's spirit is being prevented from returning to her house, so they figure out a way to fix things. Along the way, they learn more about their heritage, and connect with relatives.

This is another good instalment in this series. The Nguyen kids are fun and caring, and despite the occasional disagreement, they always find ways to work things out. I loved the ways the kids all found ways to connect with their aunt, other relatives, and even with the neighbourhood kids who shut them out before. Linda Trinh has again created a good way for kids to approach different cultures and different attitudes through conversation, kindness and sharing of each other.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Annick Press Ltd. for this ARC in exchange for my review.

An appealing and easy-reading chapter book about Canadian kids with Vietnamese roots who travel to their ancestral homeland for the first time and visit their grandmother's house, only to find that the grandmother's presence seems to be absent in her birth home. The premise is a great vehicle to teach readers some culture and customs of Vietnam while at the same time entertaining them. #NetGalley #LindaTrinh

This book was so much fun. I love these kind of books about different cultures and kids coming to visit their family in another country. I used to do the same with my Nonna in Italy, so I could totally identify with these kids. The problem is that, although they can feel their grandma at home, they can't feel her in the house she used to live in! There is a problem, and these kids need to find the solution. It is engaging, fun, supernatural, suspenseful, and is a very satisfying book to read. Totally recommend, and an easier read for kids who struggle but love different cultures.

I received an electronic ARC from Annick Press Ltd. through NetGalley.
The three Nguyen kids are together at their grandmother's home in Vietnam. All were excited to see their ancestors' homeland, and, yet, don't feel they belong. Trinh shows readers how important family love is and how this culture honors their past in this fourth book. The book is told in all three voices in rotating chapters. Readers see each of them continue to grow separately and in bonds to each other. When they discover the house is cursed and their ancestors cannot come home, they try to figure out what to do. They have to work together to break the curse and bring their grandmother's spirit back home. A lovely ending if this is the final book on this family.

4,5
This chapter book, illustrated is a fun light, and short read that speaks of how a child who has left Vietnam at a very young age and goes back to connect with her roots during Summer vacation feels that she also doesn't belong there and gets the same kind of bullying that she would from her new country.

Her excitement wilts for a moment until she understands that there is a curse upon her family's house and it has to do with them leaving in the first place.

It's time to understand what it is to worship their ancestor's roots and value their culture. It has enough emotion, action, and meaning in such a fast-paced story with a direct message when the siblings try to save their grandmother's house. Very endearing. I always love to see the native language in dialogue being represented.

Although I do not share her culture I too, feel a strange emotion of belonging and not belonging anymore when I visit my home country. 

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this sweet story of siblings and eARC.

siblings, grandfather, Vietnam, Vietnamese-Canadian, visit, preteens, lore, cultural-differences, cultural-exploration, cultural-heritage, family, family-dynamics, family-history, relatives, language-issues, family-drama, chapter-book, self-identity, self-worth-issues*****

This is a story of three siblings from Canada visiting relatives in Vietnam while the parents are away for an anniversary trip. They reconnect with their heritage and culture while getting to know who they are in a place which is different-yet-the-same. They resolve their inter-sibling issues while making peace with the ancestors.
Not my culture, but one which deserves infinite respect. I loved it but wished that I could pronounce the Vietnamese words correctly.
Illustrations by Clayton Nguyen are delightful, fun, imaginative, colorful, and well done.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or teacher or your public library!
I requested and received an uncorrected proof from Annick Press Ltd., Annick Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

Vietnamese-Canadian author and illustrator

Just so good. I love learning more about Vietnamese culture through this series! And the magical realism really came out in this one!

The Journey of the Ancestor's Gifts is the latest installment of the the Nguyen Kids series. This exciting illustrated beginning middle grade novel, is surprisingly told in multiple point of view format. But, it works. Linda Trinh provides clear titles for each chapter and a distinctive voice for each character. This Own Voices text has beautifully woven cultural details and language throughout. Although there is a spiritual/magical element to the story, more action would make it more engaging and help to move the plot along. The three character arcs are well thought out, but they do slow down the plot. It would be an excellent addition to a classroom or school library for students, providing them with "mirrors and windows" for the culture of Vietnam.

I read this book for free thanks to NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. This childrens chapter book is a great exposure to Vietnamese culture for Canadian kids. It's also a great lesson in accepting a who you are and where you came from.

This is a cute story. A continuation of the Nguyen's story. In this volume each chapter alternates between the three children as they experience life in the house of their grandmother and ancestor. It is very much an early reader and perfect for the age group.

The Journey of the Ancestor's Gift is a fun read that includes good information about Vietnamese culture. The book brings alternating viewpoints from the siblings of the Nguyen family. Each child experiences coming to Vietnam for the first time in different ways. This is a great stand alone book, but I cannot wait to read other books in the Nguyen Kids series.

Disclaimer: it was not until I was in the middle of reading this book that I realized that this book is the fourth in a series. To this end, if I make points in this review that would be refuted or explained given context within the series, then that's on me!

With that being said, I quite enjoyed this book. It employs revolving narrators to tell the story of a trio of siblings who stay with their aunt in Vietnam while their parents take a much needed vacation without them. They learn that the home that they are staying in is cursed and resolve to end the curse. Meanwhile, the siblings struggle variously with claiming and connecting with their Vietnamese cultural identities while not having been born in Vietnam.

Thematically, this book covers ground that I am happy to see more of in early chapter books––diasporic identity and dis/connection. Although I found myself (as an adult) longing for more depth to this thematic exploration, I do believe that kids would find this book as a excellent starting point for exploring this topic.

I additionally appreciate the shifting narrators both for the ways that it allows the book to explore its themes variously within each of the siblings as well as how it adds complexity to kids' reading experience. Shifting narrators in chapter books like this is uncommon, and Trinh succeeds at offering each sibling a distinct voice while finding unique thematic resonance within each sibling's experience throughout the book.

Thank you to netgalley and the author/publisher for the arc. I thought the story was well written. It gave you a look into another culture and how visiting their homeland taught them many things they did not know. The arc said illustrations were still coming so that was a little bit of a bummer. I love pictures in books. They help build on the story. Overall I would recommend this for older children to read! Very meaningful story!

The Journey of the Ancestors' Gifts is a fascinating and creative early chapter book. It is the fourth in a series about the Nguyen children. Linda Trinh has created an innovative and pleasing series that showcases Vietnamese lore as well as the typical emotions and events in children's lives. The books center on the loss of the family's beloved Grandma Nôi and the unique gifts she left for each child. Through these gifts, the children are able to summon their grandmother's spirit to help them in difficult times or when they are missing her more than usual. In this book, the Nguyen family travels to Vietnam to visit relatives and to see their ancestors' homeland. When their parents leave to spend a few days alone, Anne, Liz, and Jay discover that their aunt's house is "cursed" because their grandmother left and never returned. Their decision that they must remove the curse leads to some fast, clever thinking.
This book, and the series, are attractive because in addition to conveying information about Vietnamese culture, their depiction of the vagaries of life and relationships between siblings are spot on. The Nguyen children could easily belong to most families.
Thank you to NetGalley and Annick Press for the ARC of this entertaining book.

While I didn't read the first two installments, I did read the last. I was floored, and am still floored, that gender identity is being discussed in an overseas Vietnamese family. The siblings visit Vietnam. While I can't come to grasp the antiquated ancestor worship or various "curses," it was nice that they discussed Việt kiều, even if it's sometimes derogatory in usage.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

The Journey of the Ancestors' Gifts by Linda Trinh
Illustrated by Clayton Nguyen

Anne (12), Liz (10) and Jay (6) are on their first visit from Winnipeg to their grandparent's house in a town near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It's exciting to visit their ancestors' homeland; the food is familiar, but the reactions of some people make them feel like outsiders. The old house has a strange atmosphere - and the three children discover that their help is needed!

A charming story of three children who get along most of the time, though each has quirks and insecurities that can get in the way. Underlying this adventure is a theme of spiritualism; each child has a strong feeling of connection to their departed Grandma Noi, and it is this understanding in common that helps them to perceive and resolve adversity together.

The point of view changes with each chapter, and while that helped me to learn the personality of each child, it also confused me, and I had to constantly flip back to the start of the chapter to find out who had the "voice". Page illustrations were unavailable at the time of this review; however, the front cover artwork is certainly appealing with cheerful caricatures and bright colours.

A beautiful engaging story for reading with youngsters at bedtime. The characters feel real, their setbacks hurt but can be resolved, and the exploration of Vietnamese culture is respectful and worthwhile.