Butterfly Yellow is about an 18-year-old Vietnamese girl named Hằng, who is separated from her younger brother at the start of their journey to Texas, during the Vietnam War. Along the journey to reunite with her sibling after six years of separation, she meets a character called Lee-Roy, who dreams of being a cowboy. I found their relationship really fascinating, because they are completely distant human beings from different countries, cultures and backgrounds. Hằng is still haunted by the trauma she’s experienced before meeting Lee-Roy, which puts another interesting twist to their friendship.

This completely unexpected circumstance draws the pair together. Their road trip to find Linh (Hằng’s brother) is filled with humour as they try to navigate one another’s differences. Although the dialogue of Hằng’s attempts at pronouncing English (in Vietnamese) was brilliant, it slowed down the pace of my reading as I tried to understand her words. This became sort of a frustrating process and chipped away at my enjoyment of the novel. However, this was a great way of reflecting on the slow process it took for these two characters to become closer and more understanding in their friendship.

Butterfly Yellow is a truly eye-opening story about the realistic events of the refugee experience. I would recommend this to older high school ages who are interested in historical fiction as it contains quite dark themes. It teaches us that understanding each other goes far beyond a language, but rather through empathy and human connection.

Chiara, Year 9
Cerdon College
Merrylands NSW
Age Guide 15+