The ABCs of

1
The ABCs of
2
America
Education
Freedom
Hope
Family
Dreams
Decisions
Traditions
Opportunity
New Life
Change
3
Miss Sayapong
Good-bye land of war, land of prisons, land of
lies.
PASS
School
Death
Rape
Filth
Hunger
4
English
Confusion
This is cold?
I didnt understand. My ownroom?

Look Grandma! I pointed at my cup. The
squares turned into water. We shook our heads
at each other. How were we supposed to know?
Parents always told their kids who they could be
with, what they could do. If the kids disobeyed,
shouldnt they get hit? I struggled to hide my
confusion.
Will I kill us with what I dont know?
5
What religion do I believe?
Do I lie? I have never lied before.
How should I confront her?
Do I listen to my friends?
Where do I want to fit in?
Do I want to be a good Hmong girl?
Decisions
Are Heather and Lisa good for me?
Do I listen to my family?
How do I make Grandma proud?
Do I want to be American or Hmong?
Can I be both?
Do I want a traditional Hmong life?
How do I make her smile?
How do I handle my anger towards Grandma?
6
El ePhan t
uck
a Nhia
7
Family
8
Grandma
Love
Hate
Lost
Protector
Caregiver
Acceptance
Proud
Dependent
Traditional
Pandau
Strong
Life Line
Vibrant
Dominant
Independent
9
The Hmong are fiercely independent hills tribes
who have populated the southwestern Chinese
Provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Kwangsi for
more than 4,200 years. p 221
Hmong
Mai struggles to keep her Hmong identity and
traditions while trying to adjust to her new
American life.
10
In my home Mai will obey me, Grandma
insisted. Heather whispered to me in
English, A battle for Mais soul. Who will
win? Me, I replied under my breath. I
chomped into the cross and bit off the whole
top. p 163
Independence
Mai struggles constantly with the independence a
new American life offers and the obligation to
her Grandmother and her previous way of life.
11
Mai blames herself for her grandmothers death.
She came to America with her grandmother at her
side and now she must continue on the rest of the
journey without her.
Just a
Memory
My hands touched my sash and my collar, and I
thought, Grandma is here, and I touched my silver
necklace, here, and my jingling hat, here. Then I
lifted my hands high into the air and twirled
once slowly, here and everywhere. p 219
12

If I told the truth, Heather and Lisa would hate
me. p87
Mai wants to do the right thing but what is
right gets more unclear everyday.
Keeping secrets
Lies could help, I reasoned. They werent
always wrong. It would be okay for me. One tiny
harmless lie, only one. p87
13
Learning
I didnt think much about pandau anymore.
My eyes were hungry for words! p 174
Mai works hard studying during her first Summer
in America so that she may join her
regular eighth grade class in the fall.
I remembered the encouraging words of Miss
Sayapong in camp Keep learning, Mai. That is
how to thank me. p176
14
Mai is beautiful as an orchid, but has the
strength of a tiger. p 219
Mai is a smart girl with hopes and dreams of a
better tomorrow in America. She struggles often
with her own emotions. She wants to follow her
Hmong traditions, but she is curious about the
American way of life. Mai begins to find herself
and slowly untangles the threads of her life.
Mai
15
A new year of luck, health, and
happiness jingled in the air, and here I was
safe and swirling, inside it. p 220
Nyo Zoo Xyoo Tshaib
Happy New Year!
As the New Year arrives, Mai finally begins to
make peace with herself over her inner
struggles. She finally understands there is a
way to balance the traditions and beliefs of her
old Hmong lifestyle with her new life here in
America.
16
O

• Is for Obedient. Mai struggles to understand how
  and why American children disobey their elders so
  easily. Its almost fascinating to her to the
  point where she wants to try it herself.

17
P

• Is for PASS, Preparation for American Secondary
  School. This is where Mai learned many things
  about American culture. She felt safe and
  protected there by her teacher Miss Sayapong who
  helped her get to America.

18
Q

• Is for Qeej, the wind instruments made of bamboo.
  This symbolizes the happiness Grandmother felt
  when she witnessed Hmong customs being practiced
  in America, like the dancing the girls performed.

19
R

• Is for Refugee. Mai spent ten years of her life
  as a prisoner in camps. Her dream was to be with
  her family in America and not spend her life as a
  Refugee anymore.

20
S

• Is for Secrets. In America Mai learns that there
  are many secrets in her precious family. The
  secret Grandmother keeps from her is the most
  hurtful, yet Mai waits months to confront her
  about it.

21
T

• Is for Threadworm, the stomach sickness Mai
  suffers from. She caught it in the refugee camp
  and it plagued her until she was treated by
  American doctors and medicine.

22
for Unite
U

• Only the shaman could rid my body of its bad
  spirits. Only the shaman could unite my wayward
  souls. page 1

23
for Vietnam
V

• The Thai, the Lao, even most Americans didnt
  believe that the Pathet Lao the Communists who
  were the new rulers of Laos had used poisoned
  gas against us after the Vietnam War. page 10

24
for Westerners
W

• Hmong children never disobeyed. From what I saw
  last night, I guessed American children did all
  the time. It seemed as if nobody was in charge
  of an American family. page 90

25
for Xenophobia
X

• Heather had told me about the gangs. How when
  the Hmong first came to Providence, other kids
  picked on us, beat us up. Some Hmong started
  sticking together for protection and fighting
  back. page 125

26
for Yang
Y

• my Yang ancestry. Slowly I traced the whorls
  of Yang men who had fought for freedom from the
  Chinese, Yang women who tried to save the
  forbidden Hmong alphabet by stitching the
  characters into pandau, Yang who fought the
  Japanese and then the Communists. page 212

27
for Zis
Z

• The doctors are doing some tests. They took
  blood from you and some samples of, uh, your
  quav and zis urine. page 133

Characters use Hmong words throughout the novel,
lending strong cultural authenticity.
28
The ABCs of Tangled Threads

• created by
• Amy Parsons (A-G)
• Kim Irvin (H-N)
• Nickey Druley (O-T)
• Susan Lynch (U-Z)