With The Coconut Children Pham has accomplished what many more experienced writers attempt and fail. This is a sweet and gritty coming of age love story, set against a background of racism, mental health struggles, abuse and neglect. This is a gentle but emotional debut novel, full of the tiny details of the Vietnamese migrant life in Australia. Pham is an accomplished story teller, with an evocative style and talent for character development and depth. There are great moments of humour, which were used at perfect moments to break tension and relax the reader. I look forward to more work from Pham, and seeing her writing grow and evolve.