Lao author's book documents family's refugee journey, racial struggles

News Room

With $40 in hand, just the clothes on their backs and one bag of belongings between them, Niphaphone Sanavongsay’s family arrived in America in 1979 as Laotian refugees fleeing the Southeast Asian nation in the grips of a civil war. In her book, Niphaphone “Laura” Robertson chronicles her journey and writes about trying to fit in as an Asian kid at school, her immigrant identity crisis, and the racism she endured along the way.

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