Ticket to Childhood by Nguyen Nhat Anh

As the author writes in the book, Ticket to Childhood is not a book for children, but for those who used to be children. Every page of this novel is steeped in humour and nostalgia. When I first read this book in middle school, I giggled at the silliness and the innocence of the characters. Now, as a 20-something, this book somehow makes me cry. It isn’t because this is a tragic tale, but because it felt like an eulogy to my childhood, to the little girl I used to be. Through the lenses of adulthood, this book carries a bittersweet undertone that I didn’t not recognize as a child.

Although I understand that some details in this book can be quite culturally alien for non-Asian readers; Ticket to Childhood by Nguyen Nhat Anh, in general, is still a beautiful book that immaculately encapsulates the essence of childhood - how it feels to look at the world with innocence and wonder.

After reading this book in both English and Vietnamese, I think that the translator did a wonderful job with this novel. Although I am quite biased towards the original version (partly because Vietnamese is my mother tongue), I believe you will not miss out much with the English version. Recently I found out that quite a few of my favourite Vietnamese novels have been translated into English, which makes me incredibly ecstatic as these books can allow people to see Vietnamese culture beyond the stereotypical depictions on mainstream media.