Research is always a high priority in my fiction. Songs, fashion, politics, television, movies, trends - I try to get those details right.

There weren't too many books featuring other cultures and countries when I was growing up as an immigrant kid here in the States.

Keep reading and writing, learn how to revise, and push through rejections. My second book, Monsoon Summer, was rejected over 20 times and finally came out 11 years after my first book! I'm glad I didn't give up. Neither should you.

I learned to read when I was three, so I skipped right over picture books and didn't learn to appreciate art in books until much later.

American and Vietnamese characters alike leap to life through the voice and eyes of a tenyearold girl-a protagonist so strong, loving, and vivid I longed to hand her a wedge of freshly cut papaya.

Research is always a high priority in my fiction. Songs, fashion, politics, television, movies, trends - I try to get those details right.

If you have a chance to see Children Of War, you can watch expert trauma counselors try to help bring healing to young people who have experienced atrocities in conflict.