Common Sense Media Review
By Michael Berry
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Heartfelt, hopeful graphic memoir about family and food.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
As FAMILY STYLE opens, Thien Pham and his family are aboard a boat escaping from Vietnam in the 1970s. Thien and his family are sent to San Jose, California, where they receive help from kind residents and fellow refugees. They work all kinds of jobs -- picking strawberries, waiting tables -- and gradually find some stability in owning their own businesses, such as a video rental store. Eventually, Thien applies for U.S. citizenship. Throughout the story, he remembers important people and places by the foods he ate there.
Is It Any Good?
This tart, sweet memoir depicts the association between food and memory with tender hope and joy. In Family Style, Thien Pham recounts how a rice ball, potato chips, watermelon, com tam dac biet, and ham and cheese croissants are forever fixed in time and space for him. Pham's artwork is highly evocative, capturing the feel of strip mall California in the 1970s and '80s, when good "bad" food was plentiful. The book is a moving delight from start to finish.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Family Style portrays one family's experience of immigration. What makes immigration so difficult sometimes? How did Pham and his family deal with the challenges they faced?
To thrive in their new country, how did the Phams persevere, work as a team, and show compassion?
Why is food such an important part of memory? Do certain foods remind you of specific people or places?
Why do some immigrants find it important to apply for citizenship in their new country? What are the benefits of citizenship?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Thien Pham
- Genre : Graphic Novel
- Topics : Cooking , History
- Character Strengths : Courage , Gratitude , Perseverance
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : First Second
- Publication date : June 20, 2023
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
- Number of pages : 240
- Available on : Paperback, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Award : Common Sense Selection
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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