A raw, relatable memoir exploring mental health and immigrant experiences.
Poignant images and text capture the emotional challenges faced by a Korean American teen in New Jersey.
Artist Lee looks back on fraught high school years of longing to fit in. But Lee was withdrawn and socially awkward and suffered frequent microaggressions. Orchestra, formerly a refuge, got more competitive; Lee gravitated toward drawing rather than practicing violin. Having immigrated at age 3, Lee felt neither Korean nor fully American. Anxiety led to intense clinginess, making friendships a struggle. Home was no safe haven—Dad was warmly sympathetic, but Mom is shown as demanding and prone to out-of-control rages. Lee’s fragile mental health plummeted, leading to a suicide attempt, but fortunately, therapy sessions allowed space to reflect on a difficult, lonely childhood, and weekly art classes in New York City offered hope and a place to feel seen and understood. Later, a trip to Korea helped Lee move toward acceptance and forgiveness. Confusion and pain are depicted through artful, largely digitally created grayscale images that evoke ink wash and pencil sketches and convey Lee’s growing hopelessness. The panels vary dramatically in shape, size, and perspective, bringing readers in for intense, intimate close-ups and pulling back to offer a broader overview of events. The mother-child relationship is especially well portrayed, nuanced, and resonant. Befitting a memoir that addresses transgenerational language barriers, some conversations include Korean phrases that are not translated into English.
A raw, relatable memoir exploring mental health and immigrant experiences. (author’s note) (Graphic memoir. 14-18)Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-25266-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A tribute to young people’s resistance in the face of oppression.
In 1983 South Korea, Kim was learning to navigate university and student political activism.
The daughter of modest restaurant owners, Kim was apolitical—she just wanted to make her parents proud and be worthy of her tuition expenses. Following an administrator’s advice to avoid trouble and pursue extracurriculars, she joined a folk dance team where she met a fellow student who invited her into a banned book club. Kim was fearful at first, but her thirst for knowledge soon won out. As she learned the truth of her country’s oppressive fascist political environment, Kim became closer to the other book club members while the authorities grew increasingly desperate to identify and punish student dissidents. The kinetic manhwa drawing style skillfully captures the personal and political history of this eye-opening memoir. The disturbing elements of political corruption and loss of human rights are lightened by moving depictions of sweet, funny moments between friends as well as deft political maneuvering by Kim herself when she was eventually questioned by authorities. The art and dialogue complement each other as they express the tension that Kim and her friends felt as they tried to balance school, family, and romance with surviving in a dangerous political environment. References to fake news and a divisive government make this particularly timely; the only thing missing is a list for further reading.
A tribute to young people’s resistance in the face of oppression. (Graphic memoir. 14-adult)Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-945820-42-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Iron Circus Comics
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today.
A beautifully heart-wrenching graphic-novel adaptation of actor and activist Takei’s (Lions and Tigers and Bears, 2013, etc.) childhood experience of incarceration in a World War II camp for Japanese Americans.
Takei had not yet started school when he, his parents, and his younger siblings were forced to leave their home and report to the Santa Anita Racetrack for “processing and removal” due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. The creators smoothly and cleverly embed the historical context within which Takei’s family’s story takes place, allowing readers to simultaneously experience the daily humiliations that they suffered in the camps while providing readers with a broader understanding of the federal legislation, lawsuits, and actions which led to and maintained this injustice. The heroes who fought against this and provided support to and within the Japanese American community, such as Fred Korematsu, the 442nd Regiment, Herbert Nicholson, and the ACLU’s Wayne Collins, are also highlighted, but the focus always remains on the many sacrifices that Takei’s parents made to ensure the safety and survival of their family while shielding their children from knowing the depths of the hatred they faced and danger they were in. The creators also highlight the dangerous parallels between the hate speech, stereotyping, and legislation used against Japanese Americans and the trajectory of current events. Delicate grayscale illustrations effectively convey the intense emotions and the stark living conditions.
A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today. (Graphic memoir. 14-adult)Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-60309-450-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Top Shelf Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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