One Book One Lincoln

One Book One Lincoln is a community reading project sponsored by Lincoln City Libraries. The program encourages all adults in Lincoln and Lancaster County to read and discuss the same book at the same time. The goal of the program is to encourage reading and dialogue by creating a community-wide reading and discussion experience.

The 2025 One Book One Lincoln Winner is Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai!

Author Visit November 3

One Book One Lincoln and Lincoln City Libraries is proud to welcome 2025 One Book One Lincoln Winning Author, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai to Lincoln for an evening of celebration and conversation about her novel, Dust Child, November 3, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. We invite you to enjoy this in-person interview and question & answer session, followed by a book signing. Copies of the book will be available for purchase on-site thanks to local bookstore, Francie & Finch, or attendees may bring their own to have signed. This event will be held in the Lincoln High School auditorium, 2229 J Street, with parking available in the North lot; please enter at Door #1. The handicap entrance is Door #44 on the West side of the building with the elevator located across from auditorium doors. Registration is encouraged for this event, please see our website or call Lincoln City Libraries, 402-441-8500 for staff assistance.

Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Ma is a saga of family secrets, changing perspectives and forgiveness set against the backdrop of the war in Vietnam and its aftermath. Two sisters work in the bars of Saigon, spending time with American soldiers to earn money. Some of these soldier’s father children, but what happens when those children are left behind? The past and present collide in this tale of a soldier seeking redemption and an Amerasian man looking to belong.

For a deeper understanding on the themes and topics of this intricate and affecting story, check out these additional resources:

Amerasian Homecoming Act on Wikipedia

The Bar Girls of the Vietnam War on Rare Historical Photos

In 2023, Nguyễn Phan Quế Ma contributed this article to USA Today.

Son of U.S. soldier left behind in Vietnam helps other 'Amerasians' reunite with families (USA Today)

Vietnamese-American Man Dedicates Himself To Reuniting Other 'Amerasians' With Their Families (WBUR, Boston)

Enjoy these read-alikes for Dust Child:

Descriptions and cover images are from NoveList Plus.

Although Banyan Moon is set mainly in the United States and Dust Child mainly in Vietnam, both of these compelling literary novels explore a half-century of linkage between the countries through individual families' complex histories.

These intricately plotted literary historical novels are moving family sagas about the personal consequences of America's presence in Vietnam. Moving between contemporary times and the era of the Vietnam War, both stories follow families' search for missing or abandoned children.

Opening in 1978, the sweeping Things follows a Vietnamese refugee family through three decades in New Orleans. Equally moving, the differently-structured Dust Child is a novel of searching, as contemporary Vietnamese Americans attempt to recover those left behind decades earlier.

These books have the subjects "vietnam war, 1961-1975," "psychic trauma," and "vietnamese americans"; and include the identity "asian."

These books have the appeal factors cinematic, emotionally intense, and own voices, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "family sagas"; the subjects "family relationships," "south asian people," and "asian people"; and include the identity "asian."