• Age: 6 to 9
• Grade: 1 to 4
• Reading age: 6 to 9

The Nguyen kids are going on vacation!

It’s their first time in Vietnam and staying in Grandma Nội’s childhood home, so they should be excited. As soon as they enter the house, though, something doesn’t feel right. Why is the door to the ancestors’ room always closed? And why can’t they connect with Grandma Nội using their gifts, the way they can at home?

The Nguyen kids are back for the fourth book, this one told in alternating perspectives, in this charming early chapter book series. An exploration of Vietnamese culture and identity through the eyes of the Nguyen siblings, with elements of the supernatural, spirituality, and social justice woven in, The Nguyen Kids "should be considered for all chapter book collections" (School Library Journal, review of Book #1).

The Secret of the Jade Bangle, book #1 awards: New England Independent Booksellers Association Windows & Mirrors List pick, a New York Public Library Best Books for Kids 2022, a nominee for The Outstanding Works of Literature Award nominee, BookPal 2022!

Linda Trinh is an award-winning Vietnamese Canadian author of fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. She is the author of The Nguyen Kids series. Her work has appeared in various anthologies and literary magazines, and has been nominated for numerous awards. The Secret of the Jade Bangle co-won the Manitoba Book Award for best first book. Linda immigrated to Canada with her family from Vietnam when she was three years old. She and her older sister were raised by a single mother, surrounded by extended family in the West End of Winnipeg, after her father passed away when she was seven. Growing up, she did not see herself represented in books and that absence influences her exploration of identity, cultural background, and spirituality. She lives with her husband and two kids in Winnipeg, on ancestral lands, Treaty 1 territory, traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis.

Linda Trinh's profile page

CLAYTON NGUYEN is an illustrator and animation student at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

Clayton Nguyen's profile page

• Joint winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, *starred selection, Canadian Children’s Book Centre