The Crossbow of Destiny
Written by Brandon Hoàng
Scholastic Press
Ages 8-12
Available August 6th, 2024

When Vietnamese American Freddie travels to Vietnam for the first time in almost 10 years to celebrate the career of her beloved archaeologist ông ngoại, or grandfather, she struggles to find her place within her family and her culture. Her family speaks English only to her, she can’t read Vietnamese, and she can barely remember the village where her family lives. Thankfully, she finds solace in seeing Ông Ngoại and her favorite cousin, Liên, who reminds her, “We’re cousins. Viet cousins. That’s like the strongest bond in the universe’” (p 231). At Ông Ngoại’s celebration, Freddie discovers that Ông Ngoại’s colleague, Nhất, is using him to find an ancient crossbow from a Vietnamese legend—and he is willing to kidnap for it. Freddie and Liên narrowly escape Nhất’s clutches after a mysterious boy on a motorcycle named Duy saves them, but Ông Ngoại is still missing. Suddenly, Freddie is re-living the legendary An Dương Vương folktale in modern-day Vietnam to find the magical crossbow before Nhất and his crew. With the help of Liên and their new ally Duy, Freddie learns more than she ever thought she could about her culture while also saving her ông ngoại.

By opening the novel with the Vietnamese legend set thousands of years ago, Hoàng foreshadows Freddie’s action-packed adventure while also introducing readers to cultural context of the characters and plot. The first half of the book focuses on strong characterization, centering Freddie’s identity struggles and familial bonds with Liên and her ông ngoại. The shift from a story of Vietnamese identity to a high-stakes mythical quest is not gradual, but searching for the crossbow ultimately builds Freddie’s confidence in her identity, which ties the two sections of this complex plotline together well. Early on, Hoàng centers Vietnamese identity—he uses Vietnamese phrases in dialogue and description and translates anything that is not discernable with context. This fluid yet bold writing style gives voice to readers familiar with Vietnamese language and culture while also welcoming readers who are less familiar into the world of Vietnamese legends, culture, and language. With powerful themes of self-confidence and perseverance, Hoàng’s middle grade novel is a beautiful combination of Vietnamese culture and an unexpected hero’s quest to save the world.