Thanks to Harper Collins for the free advance copy of this book.

Near the end of the Vietnam War, Hằng's brother Linh is separated from their family, sent to America with a rescue group. Six years later, she makes the horrific journey to Texas to find him. Along the way, she gets a ride from LeeRoy, a city boy who dreams of being a cowboy. What Hằng didn't expect was that Linh would not remember her, their family, or Vietnam once she finds him.

I can honestly say I've never read anything like BUTTERFLY YELLOW. As far as I can recall, I've never read any YA about the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and certainly not from the perspective of a young girl who survived it. It covers PTSD, family separation, language barriers and more.

One of the most unique things about this book is the way Hằng's voice is shown on the page. Her dialogue is written as the Vietnamese syllables that match the English words. It's a bit slow to read, but it showed me how frustrating it was for her to try to make herself understood. It's really an incredible authorial choice and I loved it - not in the least because I now have a better understanding of how the diacritical marks affect pronunciation.

LeeRoy I found to be a bit less compelling than Hằng. He was certainly sweet but I grew tired of his wannabe-cowboy thing quickly. I wasn't really sure why he stuck around to help either, beyond needing to be there for the plot.

The slow unfolding of Hằng's full experience in the war and boat travel to America rang true to what I know about repressed memories and PTSD. Her gradual realization of her own story and how much she could and should tell others made this book into so much more than your average YA boy-meets-girl.