The possibilities are endless when you are invisible for twenty-four hours! Invisibility has always been a superpower I’ve wanted to experience. If I was invisible, I would first go to my brother and sisters elementary school to see what they are doing and how they act. My sister is in fourth grade and my brother is in first grade. I would follow them around for a while and listen in on their conversations with friends. After, I would go to my school and go into some of the classes and make random sounds to see students reactions. During break, I would leave to go to the super market and take my favorite snacks home to eat for later while I watch tennis matches and Netflix. I like lots of snacks but some of my favorite are fruit, spicy chips, and almost anything with caramel in it. Then I would go to the airport and sneak onto a plane to Hawaii. There, I would hang out at the beach. After, I would go to Musubi Cafe and steal some spam musubi to eat while I go shopping for souvenirs. One of the stores I would definitely go to is the ABC store to buy lots of souvenirs for my family and friends. After I eat lots of spam and buy lots of souvenirs, I would go back to the airport to sneak back onto a flight home. Back at home, I would lay on my comfy cozy bed and watch tennis matches and Netflix for the rest of the day while eating the snacks I stole earlier in the day. What would you do if you were invisible for twenty-four hours?

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This month, I read the book Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai. Listen, Slowly is a historical fictional book about a twelve year old girl named Mai. Mai does everything her parents ask of her, from being a straight A student to participating in extracurricular activities and now she’s looking forward to a well earned summer relaxing at the beach. But that’s not what her parents have in mind. Instead, she gets to escort Bà on a trip to Vietnam to earn a better understanding of where she came from and to help Bà figure out what happened to Ông in the Vietnam War. Mai has never been to Vietnam and it’s very far away from home, where she wants to be. But this trip turns out to be more than she expected, she starts to learn more about her culture and grows closer to her family.

I enjoyed this book because I got to know more about Vietnamese culture and watch Mai learn more about her heritage. At the beginning of the story, the main character Mai isn’t too excited about taking this trip to Vietnam. But as she learns more about her roots, she starts to appreciate it. I also liked this book because I got to learn more about what happened in the country where my grandparents are from. Lots of the food and customs they do in this book I also do. It’s interesting getting to learn where my Bà and Ông came from (Bà is grandma and Ông is grandpa in Vietnamese). The author also did a phenomenal job building the characters throughout the story and I enjoyed getting to know the complex characters and their personalities.

Even though Mai’s mom isn’t a big character in the story, she is my favorite character. Mai’s mom is my favorite character because she cares so much about Mai and only wants the best for her. Every day, Mai’s mom gives her a new SAT word to study and practice using. One of Mai’s moms character traits is comforting. A quote to prove this character trait is, “‘You’re fine,’ Mom murmurs. ‘I know you can do this for Bà, and you’ll be so proud of yourself. Deep breaths in, now out. From what I understand, the guard is reluctant to come see Bà. It’ll all get smoothed out, but that takes time. So hang in there, sweetie. Two weeks aren’t that long. Can I hear your voice?’” As you can see in this quote, Mai’s mom is trying to make her feel better. This quote proves she is comforting because Mai isn’t enjoying her time in Vietnam because she is missing home and is getting lots of itchy mosquito bites since her mom only packed her capri leggings. Mai’s mom is trying to comfort her and make her feel better about being there and even left a surprise for her in her suitcase.

My favorite quote from the book is “Life is easy and hard, beautiful and ugly,” (253). This is my favorite quote because it shows how life is so many things. At times, life will be good and beautiful, times when you are enjoying it and having a good time. Others times in life it won’t be so pleasant and you might have some challenges that will be hard to overcome. Life is always changing and things might not always be easy. This quote also relates to the book because different times in the book it is good and other times it isn’t so good but in the end everything will turn out.