Graphic novelist and MHS alumnus Thien Pham visited the school on April 25 to talk about his book “Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam.” The Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and the MHS Book Club collaborated and hosted a luncheon during lunch for students to get their books signed and meet the author.
The day consisted of multiple events hosted by Pham, librarian Mia Gittlen said. He had an assembly in the theater third period, a luncheon, and a creation workshop during sixth period, she added. Both the luncheon and the creation workshop were hosted in the library.
“Students were able to sign up and come to the library, and he walked through creating a five-panel journal comic,” Gittlen said. “In doing so, he shared reminders about storytelling, about photography, those kinds of ideas of starting off with the wide shot and then coming into the action. He did a comic on the big screen live for us. So it was very cool to just watch him.”
Book club president and VSA co-vice president Jannet Nguyen helped host the luncheon, she said. The luncheon specifically was only open to members of VSA and Book Club.
“It’s a closed event just to celebrate those groups because we were the ones who were at the meeting,” Nguyen said. “We read the book, and we just really wanted to meet him. I mean, it’s an incredible experience to be able to meet an author that you’ve read and you admire.”
The author visit was possible because PTSA helped fund the event, Gittlen said.
“This fall, I went to the PTSA a couple of times,” Gittlen said. “One time was to just share and introduce what I was up to in terms of reopening the library. And at the second meeting I went to, they were just sharing about their budget and their plans. I just asked the question, ‘Would this even be possible?’ So they asked me for a proposal, I submitted it, and they considered it and approved.”
For a first author visit, it was nice to get someone who was connected to the community, award-winning, and has a compelling story, Gittlen said.
“Because of his Milpitas connection, he previously presented at the Milpitas library,” Gittlen said. “He won the Will Eisner Award for best graphic novel of the year, and previously, he won an honor for best young adult nonfiction book. And so that’s really elevated it and catapulted his fame before this book. He’s written or illustrated two other graphic novels, and now he’s a lot more famous because of this one.”
Junior Candria D’Souza attended the luncheon. One reason she came to the event was because she was a Book Club officer, so it was a part of her responsibilities, she said.
“Also I was curious to see what the author was like, since I have read his book before,” D’Souza said. “He was representing Vietnamese culture, so he was talking about his people, and there was a lot of food that was related to Vietnamese cuisine.”
Gittlen had visited Pham before even reading his book, she said. It helped add another level of depth for her while reading the book, Gittlen added.
“I went to his book launch, and what struck me is just that he’s so dynamic and full of personality,” Gittlen said. “He shared so much background about the book that as I was reading it, it really brought it to life in another dimension.”
Reading ‘Family Style’ reminded Nguyen about her own family and their experiences, she said.
“It was exactly like my dad’s story, except Mr. Pham is younger than my dad,” Nguyen said. “Growing up in Vietnam, going to a refugee camp in Thailand, and then coming to America, getting citizenship – I felt like it literally could have been my dad.”
For D’Souza, she was able to finish the book pretty quickly as it was formatted as a graphic novel, she said. The book was an interesting read, she added.
“It was also very emotionally heavy, because it talks about his experiences as a refugee,” D’Souza said. “So I feel like it was really informational about a lot of people’s experiences, while also being able to keep your attention.”
Overall, the event was an exciting experience, Nguyen said. Despite only reading one of Pham’s books, Nguyen feels like she has been his fan for so long, she added.
“I got all this experience with him, I got to see him, I met him,” Nguyen said. “He signed my book, he drew me. It was really cool. I feel like he has one lifelong fan here.”