Made In Asian America (juvenile Nonfiction)

     When I was going into the fifth grade Alla Lee entered my life. A college professor, she had had to flee her native Korea with her teenage son, Boris, when the government began imprisoning intellectuals. My mother explained the situation to me when she hired Alla to stay with Harriet and me afternoons until she got out of work, on snow days, and when we were home sick. People thought my college educated mother had taken leave of her senses. They were especially afraid that Boris would molest me or Harriet. Boris was a bespectacled boy so afraid of girls that he would not go to school dances. That is how I first learned about anti Asian prejudice. 

     In the years since I learned a lot more--not in my school but through independent reading. I was really pleased when, on a new book shelf in the Orono Public Library juvenile wing, I discovered Erica Lee and Christina Soontornvat's Made In Asian America: A History for Young People. It's an engaging narrative combined with a wealth of photographs to form a time-line stretching from way before America's nation hood to the 21st century. 

     It's a story of prejudice and persecution centered around the themes: they are different; they are inferior; they are dangerous; there are too many of them. For much of America's history Asians were deemed unfit for and denied citizenship. Although they were willing to take on the most grueling and dangerous jobs the government often limited their entry into this country. During the second world War they were locked up in squalid internment camps. 

     But it's also a story of resilience, persistence, and courage, of community and solidarity. 

     I highly recommend Made In Asian America for its target audience and way beyond. Most American adults know very little about Asian American history. Its lively blend of personal narrative and scholarship makes it much more readable and engaging than those volumes most of us were only too glad to leave behind when we graduated high school. It would be an excellent acquisition for school and public libraries. 

On a purrrsonal note, it's the first heat 🥵 🔥 ☀️ wave of the summer. Yesterday parts of Maine hit the triple digits. Eugene and his coworkers got the day off with pay because management decided it would be "too damn hot" for them to work. During the hottest part of the day he took me on a ride with the AC on which was such a refreshing treat.

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and his company's management. 

Jules Hathaway 

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