Americanized

Americanized

YA memoir
"Puberty is the equivalent of guerilla warfare on your body.
Society commonly refers to it as the awkward phase, but I've always
preferred to call it the 'everything totally sucks and I hate my life'
phase. I, for one, don't miss 1993. That was the year I naively
thought my biggest problems were my underdeveloped breasts, the cystic
acne that had built a small colony on my chin, and the sad fact that
my prettier friend and I had set our sights on the same guy...I
thought there was no way my life could get worse."
Reading the first paragraph of Sara Saedi's Americanized: Rebel
Without A Green Card makes it pretty obvious that the next sentence
will be "But I was wrong.". Very very wrong it turns out. Sara, then
12, was at home doing her homework while her older sister, Samira,
filled out applications for retail jobs. Samira said no one would
hire her. Sara reminded her she had experience working at their
parents' store.
That's when Samira dropped the bomb, shattering Sara's carefully
maintained innocence. Mall stores required a Social Security card
which she did not have because the whole family (except little brother
Kia who was born in the USA) was in the country illegally.
Try to imagine a revelation like that in your preteen life--at
your most awkward, insecure, vulnerable phase. You and your folks are
breaking the law just by being where you are. Not only could you be
deported at any moment to a country you don't remember, one you left
as a toddler, but your social status might change if the truth gets
out. Remember she's twelve.
"This was before 'undocumented immigrant' became the more
commonly used and politically correct term. The words 'illegal
aliens' echoed through my head. Suddenly hormonal acme and
microscopic boobs paled in comparison to the revelation that I was a
criminal and, apparently, an alien. How would I explain this to my
law-abiding human friends? They'd probably want nothing to do with me
once they learned I technically wasn't allowed to be living in the
country. If this got out I could lose everything."
Americanized is a beautiful hybrid narrative, skillfully
combining the subgenres of coming of age in America and living in the
shadows. As she and her folks struggle to meet the demands of inept
and indifferent agencies, Sara must return to the school where her
crush has humiliated her. Combining experiences most of us can
remember with the perils encountered by our refugee and immigrant
sisters and brothers creates a very powerful and humanizing message
without being preachy. I highly recommend the book to all who were
(like Bruce Springsteen) born in the USA.
On a personal note, these are my take sways from the conference. I
learned a lot and made really good contacts. I have a number of
things I want to try. The biggest are I plan to submit a proposal to
present at the next conference which will be in Kentucky and to use
the food insecurity rubric developed by Auburn University to assess
UMaine when I can get my hands on it. For someone who hasn't been out
of Maine except for family trips to Santa's Village and one road trip
to my Alma Mater, Kentucky seems very far away and exotic.
A great big shout out goes out to Lisa Morin who not only made all the
arrangements for our group and worked on the conference, but won an
award for running and greatly expanding the Black Bear Exchange.
UMaine can be very proud of her. I know I am. She also did something
very kind. After the awards she introduced other winners to me and
made me look like someone of substance. She does not let all she
achieves go to her head. She's still one of us.
jules hathaway



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