djcthomas's review against another edition
5.0
I want to read more stories about people with life experiences unlike my own. This book is a wonderful anthology of those kinds of stories. Highly recommend!
gallag's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating life stories told by first generation citizens of the USA. Many of them are famous and I hadn’t known some of their experiences before reading this book. A really well done book that gives me hope for the future.
saviem01's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
4.0
hannaww's review against another edition
5.0
The book is really interesting and consists of a lot of different essays (by different people eg. America Ferrera herself, Uzo Aduba, Kumail Nanjiani, Michelle Kwan, Auli'i Cravalho, Frank Waln, Linda Sarsour and many more) on what it means to be American from an immigrant and indigenous perspective. What growing up between cultures mean and how it's understood by the people living that experience. Some of the writers have immigrated to the US themselves, some are second or third generation immigrants and some hasn't immigrated at all and are in fact living on ancestral lands that have been stolen from them. The essays vary in length and in the subjects that they speak on. Some are short and anecdotal, some are longer and share several generations of immigration stories, some talk about more general subjects. All in all a very interesting collection of essays that has a bit of everything. As someone who isn't American I can't fully relate to the American dream and the feelings connected to belonging or non-belonging in the US, but it's nevertheless an interesting book that I would definitely recommend to anyone and everyone.
teawithpanda's review against another edition
4.0
“But what ARE you?!”
As someone who’s grown up, especially as a child, not knowing exactly what to tell people when they ask where I’m from after I say, “Here?” or “My family is from Texas, they’ve always been from Texas..” I’m just American, right? “But you look Mexican!”
Do I?
This book showcases pretty heartwarming accounts about what its like growing up in America and not always feeling American, and learning to love yourself and where you came from. Whether you started out here, or found yourself here.
I laughed and cried. It’s worth a read or listen.
As someone who’s grown up, especially as a child, not knowing exactly what to tell people when they ask where I’m from after I say, “Here?” or “My family is from Texas, they’ve always been from Texas..” I’m just American, right? “But you look Mexican!”
Do I?
This book showcases pretty heartwarming accounts about what its like growing up in America and not always feeling American, and learning to love yourself and where you came from. Whether you started out here, or found yourself here.
I laughed and cried. It’s worth a read or listen.
bellabooks0423's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5