HA NOI (VNS) — Acclaimed author Nguyen Nhat Anh's novel Cho Toi Xin Mot Ve Di Tuoi Tho (Give Me a Ticket to Childhood) will be released in the US on December 9.

This has been announced by Amazon.com, which hails the book as "the best selling book in the history of modern Viet Nam". The availability of the book in English also marks "the arrival in English of a hugely appealing and engaging author," says the website.

Translated by Will Naythons, the novel combines wonderful and vivid childhood memories with the reality of adult life.

The HCM City-based Anh writes insightful stories for teenagers and adults and has penned 24 short stories, two novel series and some poetry collections.

According to Tre Publishing House, Give Me a Ticket to Childhood has been printed 41 times, a phenomenon in the Vietnamese publishing industry. More than 350,000 copies of the book have been sold since it first hit bookshelves in 2008.

Early this year, Give Me a Ticket to Childhood and another novel by Anh, Kinh Van Hoa (Kaleidoscope), were cited among Japan's top 105 best-sellers by Japanese Ten-Books Publisher.

A recipient of the ASEAN Literature Award 2010, Give Me a Ticket to Childhood has also been translated and printed in Thailand and South Korea.— VNS