The Rock in My Throat

By Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Jiemei Lin. Carolrhoda Books, 2024. 32 pages. $18.99/hardcover; $9.99/eBook. Recommended for ages 5–10.

This picture book is a touching retelling of author Kao Kalia Yang’s personal experience. Yang and her family were Hmong refugees from the war in Southeast Asia, emigrating in the late 1980s. The story is beautifully accessible to young people and of interest to people of any age.

When Yang started school in the United States at six years old, her knowledge of English was limited, and she interpreted for her mother. As a young child, Yang observed the rudeness with which her mother was treated, and she decided she would not speak English. She became selectively mute and completely stopped speaking in school.

In the book, her family calls her Kalia, while her teacher calls her Kao, pronouncing it COW. Since Kalia speaks at home, her mother says to her that she doesn’t understand why Kalia is silent at school. Kalia responds, “Kuv tsis paub thiab.” (I don’t know either.) This and one other utterance are written in Hmong. Translations and pronunciations in English are provided in the back of the book.

The book is dedicated to “everyone who has trouble speaking, trouble being heard, for everyone who has lived without understanding on their side.” Yang describes the experience of not being able to communicate as having a rock in her throat.

The American Speech–Language–Hearing Association and the Selective Mutism Association define selective mutism as an anxiety disorder that may require professional help. In the author’s note, Yang writes that at age 43, she is ready to talk about why she was silent for many years. Becoming selectively mute was her “great revolution against a world [she] knew was not listening to [her mother].”

Illustrator Jiemei Lin has exquisitely enhanced this story with her choice of color schemes. The beige tones are replaced by blue or green when the child is more comfortable. The child’s mother is often wearing a rose-toned shirt.

I loved this book for several reasons. The text and illustrations perfectly match the story and evoke compassion. The story is told from the point of view of a child who has immigrated to the United States. When I was working as a speech and language pathologist, I taught a Hmong girl, a junior high student who was deaf. She told me her story of leaving the refugee camp for the United States.

My appreciation of this book led me to Yang’s memoir, Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother’s Life, also released in March 2024. It takes place during the Vietnam War, specifically America’s involvement in Laos’s Secret War, and is probably the most enlightening retelling of the war experience I’ve read. I intend to read more of Kao Kalia Yang’s work. I highly recommend including The Rock in My Throat in every meeting’s First-day school library.

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Katie Green is a member of Clearwater (Fla.) Meeting in Southeastern Yearly Meeting, and a member of New England Yearly Meeting. She is a storyteller, artist, and a retired speech and language pathologist.