Author Kao Kalia Yang has plenty in common with Nou, the young protagonist in the new children's book A Home on the Page. "Nou is a Hmong girl growing up right here on the Minnesota prairie," says Yang. "At school people don't know who Nou is, they don't know who the Hmong are... so she goes on this search to find belonging, to find home."
While Nou is frequently made to feel different by some of her classmates, and outright unwelcome by anonymous vandals in her community, she finds a way to express herself, discover her voice, and make a home of her own.
Nou's imagination and ideas of comfort and belonging come to life through the combination of Yang's words and the soft tones and detailed illustrations by Seo Kim. "Seo's phenomenally talented," says Yang. "I just feel so very lucky to team up with another Asian woman in putting both of our realities in being Asian American on the page."
A Home on the Page is available online, but the author encourages readers to look for it at your local independent bookstores. "Minnesota has so many beautiful independent stores. I would love to support them because they do so much for the ecosystem of our communities."
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
