Book 1 Response 2

 

I read “American Like Me” by America Ferrera. Normally, it is hard for me to finish reading a book, but I read this in 2 days. I liked how this book was a collection of stories that expressed different experiences. It kept me engaged. Also, whenever I would finish one person’s story and see the biography of the next author, I felt compelled to keep reading.

 

The book entailed experiences from different cultural perspectives, but I found that there were more similarities across the stories. For example, one commonality I found was the importance of “community”. It never seemed like the authors were raised by one person but were raised by a village. The support they received allowed them to pursue risky careers and chase their dreams. It made me reflect on how I was raised. My family supported me throughout my life, but the “extended family” that raised me has also been there for me.  This reflection made me aware of the impact people who are not my parents has affected me and made me grateful.

 

Additionally, it was crazy to me that other people thought the same way that I did. For example, when I read Randall Park’s story, I related to a lot of what he said about Korean immigrant parents; my grandparents act the same way as his parents. Immigrant parents always push the career dream of becoming a doctor or a lawyer and frown at the thought of a more artistic career path. My mom can attest to this. She was born to immigrant parents and when she told them that she wanted to major in art history, they laughed. While I thought that this was rude, I realized that they encouraged certain careers because they knew that certain jobs would ensure a stable life for their children. They did not want to see their children suffer like they did to make ends meet. The struggles of immigrant parents were highlighted in the stories and made me realize the sacrifices my grandparents made and why they are who they are.

Comments

  1. Thomas BFebruary 20, 2023 at 5:47 PM

    Hey Allison,
    Similarly, American Like Me engrossed me; I read it whenever I find time, but have yet to finish it. However, I appreciated your point about the expectations of immigrant parents. Like you, I've been extremely lucky to have supportive parents, who wanted me to both succeed and find fulfilment at work. We can both be grateful for having amazing community's to support us; now all we have to do is make them proud!

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  2. Lieza FolkinFebruary 21, 2023 at 11:43 AM

    Hi Allison!
    Oh my goodness, that doctor / lawyer mentality with immigrant parents is so true! In Russian there's even an anecdote about it. Translated, it goes roughly like this: "A mom is walking around a park with her two young kids (like, an infant and a toddler). An older woman comes up and tells them how cute they are! They get to talking, and she asks the mom their name. The mom responds with, 'which one, the doctor or the lawyer?'". So, yeah! The expectations are definitely there from very early on. :)
    - Lieza

    ReplyDelete
  3. atul340February 21, 2023 at 2:20 PM

    Hi Allison, I read the same book as you and came away with some of the same thoughts as you. I think I was able to tie my family's experience to parts of the book the same way that you tied your grandparents to the stories of the Korean immigrants. I think that made the book more interesting.

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  4. Ava MoralejoFebruary 21, 2023 at 4:31 PM

    Hey Allison! I really enjoyed your book post. I really enjoyed how you expressed how there were multiple different experiences and yet you found something in common for all individual perspectives. I can't say I can relate entirely but my dad was an immigrant from Cuba and faced a lot of similar experiences with his parents when being torn between his own dreams and those of his parents. Your post really made me appreciate the struggles I know my father and his family has gone through that I tend to overlook in my daily life---which I would be here without.

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  5. Alexis 340February 21, 2023 at 4:57 PM

    Hi Allison,
    I don't think I've ever enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed America Like Me. I also wrote about the sense of community in many of the chapter. I'm fond of the quote "It takes a village to raise a child" and it definitely was seen in many of the chapters. Family and community can set the foundation for growth and success.

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  6. Young Park 340February 22, 2023 at 2:22 AM

    Hey Allison. Seems like everyone's reading America Like Me and I've said similar things to the other posts but I like how you related her stories to your own personal stories. I think it would be interesting to see you tie your background and your stories to her book. I'm Korean also so I'm very interested to see what you write about in the future

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  7. Bella CarpenterFebruary 22, 2023 at 7:03 PM

    Hi Allison, great post! I, too, read "American Like Me" and took a lot away from it. What I liked specifically about your post was how you added a personal story about your mother and your growing-up experience. Reading how the book impacted others is so wonderful because I know I resonated with the book and loved reading it!

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