Book 1, Post 2

 

American Like Me, by America Ferrera is a great book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. As it was a colorful collection of long essays in the form of stories told by different actors, writers, and activists, it was a relatively easy read. I think America did a great job finding the right people who beautifully highlighted their varied experiences growing up in the United States to immigrant parents. Each person who authored a part of the book took a unique approach to their section describing their upbringing in a different way. I found it very interesting to see what it was like growing up in the United States, a country that is built on immigrants, from the perspective of people whose parents were immigrants themselves. Being someone whose family has lived in the United States for generations, it was very interesting to see what some other people’s experiences have been like. All of the people who contributed to the book showed strength, resilience, and perseverance to an extreme level that is very admirable. They have all learned so much from growing up speaking multiple languages in some cases and from extremely ambitious and hardworking parents. 

One of my favorite entries was Randall Park. I really enjoyed reading his section because I love how he was able to connect with his parents and really get to know them a lot better through this experience. He talked about how they have always been more closed off and not willing to talk much about their time in Korea and their experience immigrating to the United States. It’s awesome that he was able to get them to open up to him and talk to them on a deeper level over some breakfast. He inspired me to interview my own parents to a meal and ask them some interesting questions as well to learn more about them. I also found it inspiring how he persevered through his early experiences as an Asian American actor in Hollywood. It seems like it was difficult for him to find roles that he felt comfortable in other than the stereotypical “nerdy Asian” ones he described. This one one of them many essays I read throughout this book that had an impact on me and made me feel inspired to connect with my parents and find out more about their upbringings. 

Another entry I enjoyed reading was Anna Akana’s essay about her experiences growing up in the United States as a Japanese American. She talked a lot about the contrasting elements of her Japanese heritage and growing up here in the US. It seems like she has done a great job discovering her identity and telling stories about her upbringing on YouTube and to others. It’s fascinating how she has adopted storytelling as a core part of her ability to not only learn more about her heritage, but tell others as well. Storytelling is such an important element of understanding cultures, people, and backgrounds. Overall, I found this book to be a beautiful collection of stories from children of immigrants where I learned so much about the difficulties they faced as well as their resilience and strength. I now have a better understanding of what it’s like growing up in different circumstances and appreciate the opportunity to learn more about other cultures and how they blend with American culture. I’m glad I selected this book to read for my first book and would definitely recommend it to others to read as well.