Nowhere Girl Hardcover – September 13, 2011

Paquette's writing is really beautiful, lyrical almost. I'm wondering if she' actually visited Thailand to research, because her descriptions of Bangkok and the country of Thailand are awesome. The story had so much potential and much of it was endearing and really made you think - especially because this story is told from the perspective of a child who has spent her entire life in a prison with her mom. Paquette does a great job of showing how new, and scary and exhilerating even the most simple things (like riding in a car) would be for someone who's never known freedom. If you're looking for a page-turner that you can NOT put down, this is not the story. It's not a fast-paced, exciting book. If you're looking for something that you want to relish and take your time with, pick this up.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nowhere Girl. Luchi's story is so touching. I loved following her journey as she became the girl she wanted to be. I usually buy ebooks, but this is one I wish I had in hard copy. I would dog ear pages with some of Luchi's most poignant self discoveries, that resonated with my life, both as a child and an adult. I particularly loved her comparison of looking back at her rice paper life compared to the silk of now. Beautiful. I highly recommend this book.

Could not put this read down! A lesson in life, life is bitter sweet. Search your soul to find the real you.

Great book!

A wonderful tale, enchanting and lyrically told! I thoroughly enjoyed Luchi and her journey, away from fear towards light and life.

Multi-cultural middle grade, holla. There's nothing better than spending a few days in a foreign country with that naive, wondered-by-discovery voice you get in middle grade fiction. Seeing the cover was enough to get me to add NOWHERE GIRL to my to-read list; the straw hat, the dark forest, and the Thai-looking temple in the background set the tone for an emotional story about a young girl in a world that seems so far away.NOWHERE GIRL is about Luchi Ann, but don't tell her I told you her name; she'll get very upset. You see, Luchi Ann's mother has just died, and one of the last pieces of advice she gave her daughter was: don't tell anyone your real name. When her mother dies, Luchi Ann has a choice: stay in the Thai women's prison in which she was born in, or leave. Go see the world. Be free.Luchi Ann leaves. With no clue about her other family, why she seems to not be like the other people in Thailand (Luchi Ann is American), or why her mother was in the women's prison in the first place. On the way to finding where she belongs, she discovers the secrets of her mother's past. And they aren't pretty.So basically, I really freaking enjoyed this book. Luchi Ann is so desperate for guidance and love and a home, she's so young, I couldn't help but fall in love with her narration. I was awed by how incredibly brave she was, and the insurmountable hope she kept throughout the entire story.I'll admit, the story is a bit slow-moving. That doesn't mean it's boring, though. Ms. Paquette's writing is so lovely, and her characters so emotionally real, that you flip and flip the pages and lose your sense of time, because you are in her story, experiencing everything Luchi Ann is and getting bruised and beat up along the way. NOWHERE GIRL is about a girl in search of a home, and it is beautiful.

I don't personally read a lot of contemporary books because I'm more drawn to the fantastic elements of speculative fiction. I like reading the impossible, written as though it were mundane. Paquette pulls that off in NOWHERE GIRL, by sharing the tale of a young girl born in a prison in Thailand. When her mother dies, she's released to find her way in the world, but there's just one problem: she's a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, obviously American girl who is racially Anglo but culturally Thai.Not really fitting into one camp or the other, she tries not to stand out too much on a quest to find her only remaining family, and the truth about what tore them apart before her birth.It was sufficiently tragic without making you hate the human race, but it didn't go easy on the main character either. She has to fight for that home-sweet-home, and it's a bittersweet battle to the end.Yet all the while, hope remains alive. All in all, a great read, and a great addition to our library.

A.J. Paquette was a panelist at a wonderful author event I recently attended near Boston. Because of how passionately she spoke of her characters I purchased Nowhere Girl. I am grateful I did.As a middle school ELL teacher I am always drawn to novels which deal with culture and identity. Add in a mystery and a very likeable protagonist and you have Nowhere Girl.As you have read in other reviews, the main character, Luchi was born in a Thai prison to an American mother. When her mother dies she must overcome many obstacles to uncover the reason for her mother's imprisonment, her father's identity, and her place in the world.The writing style is clear and succinct, lending an authentic voice to confused Luchi. Her descriptions of Bangkok through Luchi's eyes are lyrical, "..the size of everything pulls at my eyes, tugging them this way and that," and, "The city stretches out below me like a jeweled carpet, every rooftop a precious stone."In two weeks I will use this novel with my sixth and seventh graders as we study the elements of plot, while researching Thai culture and exploring issues of identity with students who straddle between homelands.My students will be invested in Luchi's story because it moved at a lovely clip and used vivid sensory language.I'll be sharing this find with other teachers in my school and district.