This book was so adorable, I loved everything about it, the illustrations were so well done, they suited the book perfectly, the story was amazing as well. I’m sure the kids are going to be just as enthralled with this amazing book as I was. I will definitely recommend! Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this early copy

This children's memoir is beyond sweet. It speaks to the soul of the experience of moving to America and having to transition between languages.

This sweet child has a rock in her throat, every time she tries to speak in English. At home, there is no issue speaking Hmong, her Thailand native tongue. This book speaks to the experience of transitioning between languages and cultures, and how children may perceive this experience. The guilt, shame, and othering that occurs, whether it is intentional or not.

This rock is a metaphor for the many aspects of culture, language, behaviors, and expectations we place on children learning a new language in a new country, and how they may perceive it.

As a Spanish speaker, who moved to America in their teen years, this story resonated with me. My rock was different, I was very good at spoken English, so good other immigrants and migrants were often upset with me. Just as others were upset with me, I witnessed others be belittled and compared to my fluency. My accent didn't betray me in either language, and that made me feel guilty enough that I stopped speaking Spanish in public. This did come to bite me very hard when my teachers realized I could not read academically or write in English, but my point is that like the character in this book, I developed a rock in my throat due to the guilt and cultural shame that came from the experiences around me.

I think any child and anyone, from any culture who has moved to another country with a different language than their native tongue can absolutely see themselves in Kao Kalia's shoes. We can all describe a rock in our throats, developed from a range of emotions and experiences. We can commiserate on our shared loss of control, culture, and experiences in a new, unfamiliar land.

I completely recommend this book for children, it is a 5/5 for me.

*Jaw drop*
*inhale*
*exhale*

THIS IS REALLY GOOD BOOK! This book has a lot of meaning since it portrays the narrative of someone from an ethnic minority who finds it hard to make friends in an unfamiliar environment. to acknowledge diversity more, to be more tolerant, and to be okay when you are different.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Sobering book based on the author’s childhood when she hated being misunderstood so much when she spoke English that she stopped speaking in school at all, until she entered college. She understood English. She just hated when people made fun of her and her mother so much that she just couldn’t talk.

At first her teachers don’t notice, because she does all the work, but then they do.

Sad, but a good book for children to understand what it is like to be made fun of and to come into a country when you are an immigrant.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book comes out the 5th of March 2024.

Young children can stop talking for many different reasons. Khao Kalia Yang stopped talking at age seven in the first grade. Her teachers and even her parents can't seem to understand why, but Khao later tells us that she stopped wanting to speak the language spoken by people who disrespected and humiliated her Hmong mother and had no time or patience to try to understand her mother's halting English in stores and elsewhere.

I found it interesting that the teachers did not come up with the explanation so common for this kind of silence. They didn't attribute it to shyness, as it was clearly, in this case, something more profound.

The story is good for children and adults of all ages who come in contact with immigrants who speak little or no English, and with their children who are comfortable in their own language but reluctant speaking English.

An educational book, with lovely illustrations, that has an important message for every reader.

The Rock in My Throat provides the reader with the experiences felt by new immigrants to the United States. This moving book immerses the reader into the life of a young girl and the struggles faced at within her new school and community after immigrating to the United States. This book should be on the reading list for any teacher education program. A book every educator should read whether or not they teach ESL students.

This is a beautiful and touching story based on the life of the author in which a young girl becomes a selective mute after the experiences her parents face as refugees in a new country. This was a really beautiful story and reading the author's notes about what she went through and why she wrote this book made this an even better read.

*Thanks Netgalley and Lerner Publishing Group, Carolrhoda Books ® for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I've never read a book with Hmong rep before, and I think it's even better that it's a children's book. The Hmong are an ethnic minority residing in Southeast Asia. They don't have a country to call their own. This is doubly important as a book as it deals with immigration, language, and the selective muteness immigrants often deal with as they navigate new terrains.