The Rock in My Throat

By Kao Kalia Yang and Jiemei Lin

At first, no one noticed when I stopped talking at school.

In this moving true story, Kao Kalia Yang shares her experiences as a young Hmong refugee navigating life at home and at school. Having seen the poor treatment her parents received when making their best efforts at speaking English, she no longer speaks at school. Kalia feels as though a rock has become lodged in her throat, and it grows heavier each day. Although the narrative is somber, it is also infused with moments of beauty, love, and hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lerner Publishing
• Release date: Mar 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798765611883

Kao Kalia Yang

Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong American writer, teacher and public speaker. Born in the refugee camps of Thailand to a family that escaped the genocide of the Secret War in Laos, she came to America at the age six. Yang holds degrees from Carleton College and Columbia University. Her work includes creative nonfiction, poetry, and children's books such as A Map into the World, The Shared Room, and From the Tops of the Trees. Her work has won numerous awards and recognition including multiple Minnesota Book Awards, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, an ALA Notable Children's Book Award, the 2023 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, Dayton's Literary Peace Prize, and a PEN USA Award in Nonfiction.

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Reviews for The Rock in My Throat

[Rishabh Gautam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful illustrative book addresing serious problem and author's experience in school as an immigrant with English as a second language that develops selective mutism and how she isolated herself. It has a Poetic style writing and you get to experience the emotions of author. Thank you for sharing your story kalia i am sure this book will not only help children but also adult to be aware and maybe identify this issue with children's in there life be it their kids or students.