Celebrity fashion designer Thai Nguyen from Netflix’s Say I Do and bestselling author Monique Truong have created a tale about embracing traditions and heritage while also respecting individuality, set in a two-dad household.
Mai is excited about celebrating the holiday of Tet (the Vietnamese Lunar New Year) at her Ba Noi’s (grandmother’s) house. She’s also dreaming of being a movie star, though, and wants to wear a gown, not the traditional Vietnamese áo dài that her Ba (dad) suggests. Her Ba then tells her the story of her grandmother’s sewing school in Vietnam, where she was called “the Queen of Áo Dài.”
After she closed her school and came to the U.S., her Ba continues, Ba Noi made sure the family had new áo dài for Tet, and taught her children (two girls and a boy, Ba) how to sew as well. Her eyesight is now too poor to see well, Ba explains, but “We wear our áo dài because we love her, Mai. That’s the greatest thing about love. You don’t have to see love to know that it’s there.”
That’s a lesson good enough to recommend this book—but Nguyen and Truong go further, and show that Mai’s dad is also thoughtful enough not to force something old-fashioned onto Mai. Instead, with a little advice from Ba Noi, he’s created a special áo dài with decorations reflecting Mai’s desire to be a star. She wears it joyously, and even dreams of doing so on the red carpet as a grown-up star. Ba and Ba Noi have passed on a treasured tradition to Mai while also respecting her interests and dreams for the future.
While Mai’s other dad is not a key part of the story (because it focuses on the other side of Mai’s family), he nevertheless appears on a few pages, where his closeness to Ba and Mai makes it clear that they’re a family.
Illustrator Dung Ho’s warm and playful images capture Mai’s many moods and expressions, along with moments of family life past and present. A final page includes a black-and-white outline of an áo dài for readers to color themselves.
A highly recommended story of love and respect across generations.
