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Almost American Girl, by Robin Ha
Mar. 17th, 2022 08:29 pmA graphic novel memoir by a Korean-American woman about her experiences moving to the USA with her mom as a teenager. Really well done and moving - did an amazing job of circling back around and through the past to recontextualize the things she experiences, but without ever feeling jumbled or out of order. The clear view of her mother's strengths and weaknesses as a parent were wonderful - it's obvious how much Ha loves and respects her mother, despite the way that some of her mother's choices make life harder for her. And the complicated feelings about identity and outsiderhood that she experiences, both in Korea and in the USA, are also conveyed well.
The one weakness of the book, in my opinion, is the somewhat jarring time jump near the end. After she makes friends with other Korean-American girls in her first year of high school, the story jumps ahead to her as a young adult visiting Korea for the first time since she left as a middle-schooler. The part of the story where she was finally able to settle and find a place for herself in a stable way is skipped over, and that part is, I think, relevant to the way she experiences Korea as an adult.
Still truly excellent though, and worth the read!
The one weakness of the book, in my opinion, is the somewhat jarring time jump near the end. After she makes friends with other Korean-American girls in her first year of high school, the story jumps ahead to her as a young adult visiting Korea for the first time since she left as a middle-schooler. The part of the story where she was finally able to settle and find a place for herself in a stable way is skipped over, and that part is, I think, relevant to the way she experiences Korea as an adult.
Still truly excellent though, and worth the read!
