WHERE WE COME FROM

Four authors tell their stories, not just of the places they lived, but of the history, culture, and spirit of their beings: where they truly come from.

Initially, when describing humanity’s commonalities, this poetic text begins, “We come from…” (stardust and single-celled organisms, etc.). Then the refrain becomes, “I come from…” for the remainder of the book, with the authors each sharing aspects of their own backgrounds. The four authors represent a diverse array of experiences (Wilson is Dakota, Shin is Korean American, Gibney is Black and Irish American, and Coy is Irish and Scottish American), describing places, folklore, history, and personal memories that range from painful to joyous, taking turns in fixed order without using names. Digital illustrations represent both the historical and spiritual aspects of the text, but many of the human figures lack details and don’t engage emotionally. It’s a tall order: Some pages address sweeping historical contexts, such as the European slave trade, while others mention specific details, such as Native American boarding schools or the Korean invention of movable type. Readers may be distracted by tracking which author is speaking, as the book offers neither clear delineations of voice nor a comprehensive cohesion of content and style. Rather, what emerges is a quilt of many details that gives the reader less a feeling of understanding one person than a sense of the rich tapestry that is America. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Individual details form a warm and inclusive, though scattered, view of humanity.