Nowhere Girl (review)

Luchi Ann Finn, a thirteen-year-old American girl, was born and raised in a rural Thai prison. When her mother dies from a fever, Luchi is left on her own to face the world and to piece together who she is from the few clues left behind by her mother. She travels to Bangkok and there begins investigating her mother's story while staying with a friend of a friend, who ends up robbing her and abandoning her at the port. Penniless and clueless, Luchi stows away on a ship headed for California in hopes of somehow contacting the grandmother who doesn't even know of her granddaughter's existence. Though she's discovered on board, she gains an ally in the ship's captain, who supports her in preparing for her meeting with her newly discovered relatives. While the plot description may sound rather farfetched, the story is remarkably woven, free of contrivance and rich with description and emotion. Luchi's character is unique: she is completely unaware of the world and of human interaction, so her observations and actions are entirely pure and her sense of rootlessness profound. Her deeply sheltered past means that she's now interacting with strangers for the very first time, and she is subsequently bewildered and amazed by the many emotions she feels. This is an outstanding novel for exploring perspective as well as themes of identity and belonging, and readers will remember Luchi's quest long after the last page.