A review by misharono
American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures by America Ferrera
5.0
I didn’t expect to identify with this anthology as much as I did. Growing up, the fact that I have light skin made me feel like I couldn’t identify at Latinx or that I had to explain my dad’s background to explain why i was so pale. The fact that I understand Spanish and can speak it conversationally, but not fluently only reiterated to me the fact that, in my mind, I was only allowed to identify as white, even though I grew up watching telenovelas, eating empanadas, and wholly embracing my mother’s South American and Middle Eastern culture.
So when I started listening to this book, I expected that I wouldn’t be able to identify because I have always sort of stopped myself from identifying. But hearing these stories, the families that came from nothing, that sacrificed everything, that valued teaching their children their values and traditions when all their children wanted was to be “more American” - that was me, that was my experience.
The stories themselves range from serious and profound, to silly and light hearted. And as much as I related to some of the stories, I appreciated hearing stories from folks whose cultures and experiences I had never really been exposed to. The book itself really focuses on culture rather than politics, which may make it easier to digest for some people, even though this topic seems pretty inextricable from politics these days.
Overall, this was a wonderful read and I encourage everyone to read or listen to it.
So when I started listening to this book, I expected that I wouldn’t be able to identify because I have always sort of stopped myself from identifying. But hearing these stories, the families that came from nothing, that sacrificed everything, that valued teaching their children their values and traditions when all their children wanted was to be “more American” - that was me, that was my experience.
The stories themselves range from serious and profound, to silly and light hearted. And as much as I related to some of the stories, I appreciated hearing stories from folks whose cultures and experiences I had never really been exposed to. The book itself really focuses on culture rather than politics, which may make it easier to digest for some people, even though this topic seems pretty inextricable from politics these days.
Overall, this was a wonderful read and I encourage everyone to read or listen to it.