The Best We Could Do

The Best We Could Do is an intimate and poignant graphic novel that portrays one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam.

The book, written and illustrated by Thi Bui, documents her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves in the United States.

It explores themes of family, parenthood, belonging, the meaning of home, and the importance of education, as well as historical memory and narrative.

The memoir is a coming-of-age story laden with issues of cultural and self-identity, intergenerational trauma, and the lasting effects of displacement.