A beautiful yet emotionally devastating tale is what awaits you in The Gangster We Are All Looking For. Oscillating betwen her time in San Diego, California and her life in Vietnam, our narrator shows us that we never really leave our homeland behind. This novel is more than a coming of age story, it is a demonstration of what happens when you grow up before you can even dream about growing up. 
 
"Vietnam is a black-and-white photograph of my grandparents sitting in bamboo chairs in their front courtyard. They are sitting tall and proud, surrounded by chickens and a rooster. Between their feet and the dirt of the courtyard are thin sandals... When I think og this portrait of my grandparents in their last years, I always envision a beginning. To or toward what, I don't know, but always a beginning" (Thúy 78).