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Roots and wings

Many Ly - Author

A family mystery and coming-of-age story set around a Cambodian funeral, offering an opening into heritage, migration, memory and the complicated ways families protect or withhold their past.

More about this book

GRACE'S GRANDMOTHER HAS died, and she and her mother must travel back to the Cambodian community to give her a proper Cambodian funeral. But Grace wants to use the trip to solve a few mysteries, like who her father was, why her mother and grandmother moved from St. Petersburg to Pennsylvania, where they're the only Cambodians Grace has ever seen, and what Cambodian culture is really about.Embraced by her mother's old friends, Grace feels both at home and lost, fascinated by the traditions she's never known, but strangely judged by some members of the community. Can she make sense of, and honor, the life of the grandmother she barely knew? And will revelations about the past bring Grace closer to her mother, or push them even further apart?From the Hardcover edition.

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Book Analysis

At a Glance

Discover

Cambodian heritageCambodian-American communityAssimilation

Consider

Grief and lossFamily disruptionSocial conflict

Personalised Fit

Beyond the Cover

Cambodian heritageCambodian-American communityassimilationcultural explorationmother–daughter relationshipsecrecyabsent fatherintergenerational understandingKhmer Rougewarmigrationgenerational scars

Fiction

Themes in Context

Cultural identity and belonging

Grace has little connection to her Cambodian heritage and enters a community where she is welcomed by some but feels judged by others.Ambiguous

How the book presents it: The story appears to explore belonging as complicated rather than straightforward, contrasting fascination and connection with unfamiliarity and social judgement.

Talk about: Does Grace develop a more settled understanding of belonging, or does the community’s response leave that question open?

Family history and reconciliation

Grace investigates why her family left Florida, who her father was and what happened in her grandmother’s past.Unresolved

How the book presents it: The book does not clearly resolve its stance on this.

Talk about: If the family’s explanations are incomplete or painful, how does the story frame forgiveness and responsibility?

Historical trauma and memory

The grandmother is described as having survived the Khmer Rouge, and the family’s movement away from the Cambodian-American community is linked to an unexplained past.Exploratory / explanatory

How the book presents it: The historical reference gives family identity a wider context, connecting personal questions with the scars of war and displacement.

Talk about: How does the book connect historical trauma with later family choices, and does it give Grace enough context to understand that history?

Why It May Be Worth Reading

It may suit a reader interested in identity and family questions, especially the tension between feeling connected to a culture and feeling judged or unfamiliar within its community.

What Deserves Attention

The book includes bereavement, a traditional funeral, family separation, an absent father, revelations about the past, and references to survival under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.

A Conversation Worth Having

How might Grace’s understanding of family, heritage and belonging change as she learns more, and whether will the revelations bring her and her mother closer or create greater distance?

Reading Approach

Read alongside a conversation about what makes someone feel at home, who gets to define cultural belonging, and how family silence can affect a young person’s understanding of the past.

Confidence & Basis

Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.

What remains unconfirmed

Cultural identity and belonging: The ending and the book’s overall judgement of the community are not established.
Family history and reconciliation: The revelations, their causes and their consequences are not fully described.
Historical trauma and memory: The historical events may be discussed in different degrees of detail, but their presentation is not available here.

Book information

Limited information

Relevant to: Cultural identity and belonging; Family history and reconciliation

ROOTS AND WINGS

Limited information

Checked: 19 September 2026.

Relevant to: Cultural identity and belonging; Family history and reconciliation; Historical trauma and memory

Roots and Wings by Many Ly - BookDragon

Limited information

Checked: 19 September 2026.

Relevant to: Cultural identity and belonging; Family history and reconciliation; Historical trauma and memory

Benefits, discussion questions and reading approaches are suggestions. Your knowledge of your child remains part of the decision.

Heidi

Heidi

Roots and wings

At a Glance

Discover

Consider

Personalised Fit

Beyond the Cover

Themes in Context

Cultural identity and belonging

Family history and reconciliation

Historical trauma and memory

Why It May Be Worth Reading

What Deserves Attention

A Conversation Worth Having

Reading Approach

What remains unconfirmed