On April 1, NBC News senior investigative correspondent and anchor of NBC News Daily, Vicky Nguyen, released Boat Baby, her first book. In each page, Nguyen has written the reality of her family as they fled Vietnam back in 1979 in search of a better life. From there, Nguyen and her family’s story continued in America as they navigated through a new challenge—how to be American.
Ahead of her visit to the St. Louis County Library’s Clark Family Branch on April 11 at 6 p.m., Nguyen spoke with SLM about the importance of sharing her family’s journey and inviting others to see their possibilities and potential.
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What were some of the challenges you experienced while writing Boat Baby?
I wanted to be as open and honest as possible. I wanted people to feel like I was talking to them as a friend. I think it is always challenging to write about your family because inherently it is your perspective, your point of view of what happened and how it affected you. I wanted to be respectful to my parents and also be as honest as I could about the challenges that we faced, as well as the many wonderful and joyous experiences that I had. I always say my success is their success. It is because of them that I am who I am.
As you reached the finishing point of working on Boat Baby, what feelings were you left with?
This book allowed me to do something I don’t normally do, which is pause and reflect and marvel at how many things have to happen to bring us to where we are—good, bad, or indifferent. We are the sum of our experiences, and I feel really lucky that I’ve had this journey. I think when my parents took me back to Vietnam for the first time when I was 11, it opened my eyes to what my life might have been like. I remember coming back from that trip and being a sixth grader in America with access to everything. I wanted to make the most of my life and how I couldn’t take anything for granted, and I think that really changed the trajectory of how I viewed my opportunities and what I had access to.
What was the process of working on the book like for you?
I knew I wanted the book to tell the story of my family and by extension the millions of families who had to make sacrifices and in search of a better life for their kids. Telling my parents’ story was probably the easiest part because I wanted to make sure I documented it. Between 1975 and 1992, about 2 million people escaped Vietnam as boat people. I knew that this would be a story that would resonate with my fellow Vietnamese refugee families, but also with any parent who has a child, because we all want the same things for our kids. We want them to grow up safe. We want them to live their best lives, but some parents have to go through a lot more to get there.
Why do you feel that it’s important to share your story with the world?
I think everyone is always looking for connection. Humans are social. We want to feel like we belong. We want to feel like we are seen. We want to feel like we are part of a community, and stories connect us all. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to write Boat Baby, because I think it will help a lot of people connect, relate, and see that we have so much more in common than what divides us. As a journalist, I think our job is public service. It is our job to acquire as much information as we can and then distill it into a story that will help the reader. It is a privilege to have that responsibility, and I’m so grateful. That’s what I get to do. On a daily basis, I get to be curious. I get to meet people I wouldn’t otherwise cross paths with. I get to tell stories that are impactful and meaningful for people that hopefully help them live better lives ultimately, and in my book, I aim to do the same.”
What’s your favorite thing about your Boat Baby?
My favorite part of the book is actually the early reactions and feedback that I’m getting from the readers. I think the best part for any author of writing a book is when you finally get to hear from the readers. Did you earn their time? Did they relate to you? Did they laugh? Was it memorable? So,I think the best part of the book is actually the reaction to it that I’m getting, and I can’t wait to share it with more people and have conversations about negotiating, immigration, being a mother, going through miscarriages…There’s so much that I cover in this book because it goes basically from my birth to present day, that I think there really is something in there for everyone.
