The Land I Lost

infobox Book
name = The Land I Lost
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Front cover
author = Quang Nhuong Huynh
illustrator = Vo-Dinh Mai
cover_artist =
country =
language = English
series =
genre = Autobiography
publisher = HarperTrophy
release_date = 1986
pages = 144
isbn = ISBN 0064401839

"The Land I Lost" is an autobiographical book that centers around the life of the author, Quang Nhuong Huynh. The book was first published by HarperTrophy in 1986, and was illustrated by Vo-Dinh Mai. [cite web|url=http://www.jacketflap.com/bookdetail.asp?bookid=0064401839|title=The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam |date=2008|publisher=Jacketflap.com|accessdate=2008-07-24] Huynh's second book, Water Buffalo Days, used multiple passages originally published in "The Land I Lost", though it focused on the author's childhood rather than his entire life. With the Publication of "The Land I Lost" and "Water Buffalo Days", Huynh became the first Vietnamese to publish fiction and non-fiction in English.cite web|url=http://www.tuvy.com/resource/books/authors/h/Huynh_Quang.html|title=About The Author - Quang Nhuong Huynh|date=2001|publisher=tuvy.com|accessdate=2008-07-23]

Awards

"The Land I Lost" won several awards. It received the ALA Notable Children’s Book award, the ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice award, the Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies (NCSS/CBC), the Library of Congress Children’s Books award, the William Allen White Children's Book Award (Kansas), [cite web|url=http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/HarperChildrens/Kids/BookDetail.aspx?isbn13=9780064401838|title=The Land I Lost|date=2006|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|accessdate=2008-07-23] the Friends of American Writers Award, and the Blue Cobra Award.cite web|url=http://whmc.umsystem.edu/invent/3997.html|title=Huynh, Quang Nhuong (1936-2001), Papers, 1956-2000 (C3997)|date=1996-2002|publisher=University of Missouri System|accessdate=2008-07-23] The book was also translated into several different languages including German, French, Spanish, and Catalan.

Cultural significance

The publishing of "The Land I Lost" had a large impact upon modern culture. The author, Quang Nhuong Huynh was born in My Tho, Vietnam in 1946. After being wounded in the Vietnam War, Huynh traveled to the United States for physical therapy in 1963. Deciding to stay in the U.S. after therapy, Huynh began his writing career with the release of "The Land I Lost" in 1986. The book became the first book written in English by a Vietnamese author, and after Huynh's second book, he became the first Vietnamese to write both fiction and non-fiction in English.cite web|url=http://www.tuvy.com/resource/books/authors/h/Huynh_Quang.html|title=About The Author - Quang Nhuong Huynh|date=2001|publisher=tuvy.com|accessdate=2008-07-23]

References