Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir

I've read many books about immigrants and refugees that are deeply harrowing -- many of them describe violence and real danger. This is *not* that kind of book, but it still shook me.

Almost American Girl is about a mother and daughter's journey from Seoul, South Korea, to Alabama. Robin is rudely uprooted from her happy life and thrust into a foreign, unfriendly one. The intensity of Robin's isolation was surprising to me. Despite having a built-in Korean-American family, the loneliness she experiences is hellish. She's bullied at school and by some members of her new family. She has to start 8th grade in a school with no ESL program when she knows very little English.

It is gradually revealed why Robin's single mother decided to move show more to the US. I really appreciated how Robin's perspective and understanding shifted. She was happy as a young girl in Korea, but comes to understand that Korean culture is not perfect -- why idealize it? American culture is not perfect either but offers advantages, especially for (unmarried) women.

I also really liked that Robin is singularly obsessed with comics and manga. She specifically says she does not care *at all* about Korean soap operas or K-pop, which made me laugh.

I think this would work for readers as young as middle school (Robin is in middle school for most of the story). The themes explored brought to mind [b:Real Friends|31145178|Real Friends (Real Friends, #1)|Shannon Hale|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503615816l/31145178._SX50_.jpg|51774817]. show less

Expressive illustrations and the story is nicely balanced, nothing in her life was presented as all good or all bad which to me is key for feeling like a memoir is truly being honest.

The author affectingly conveyed her loneliness and isolation early on in America. I also liked that the story wasn’t solely about finding her footing in the US, there’s interesting forays into Korean life as well, school, gender roles, beauty standards, etc., and as I mentioned above, I liked that neither country is presented as all good or all bad, each has its merits and flaws.

The balanced storytelling and honesty was most apparent and most engaging in the depiction of Chuna/Robin’s mom, the mom’s habit of not including her daughter in big life show more decisions that affect both of them, her choices in men, its messy stuff and to a large degree culturally dictated, there were moments I resented her on Chuna/Robin’s behalf and still more moments where I felt for this woman. show less

I was drawn in by the story of a 14-year-old South Korean girl suddenly finding herself an immigrant living in Huntsville, Alabama, struggling with English, racism, and bullies. But by the end I was fascinated by the portrait of her mother, a strong-willed and fiercely independent woman who resented the sexism of Korean culture and decided better opportunities for her and her daughter might be found elsewhere.

This graphic novel memoir tells the story of the author's unexpected move from Seoul, South Korea, to Huntsville, Alabama, when she was 14. Chuna thought her mother was just taking her on vacation, but it turns out her mother is getting married, and they're not going back to Korea. Robbed of the opportunity to say goodbye to all her friends, missing the possessions (especially comics) she left behind, and with very little English, Chuna is thrown into a new step-family and new school, where there are no ESL classes. She takes a new name, Robin, and tries her best, but her step-sister is no help, and she has trouble making friends because she can't speak English well; the only bright spot is a kind English teacher, who writes back and show more forth with Robin in a journal.

As the year goes on, Robin begins to settle into life in Alabama. After a huge fight with her mom ("I was happy living in Korea. I had friends and I didn't have to deal with this stepfamily bullshit! I am so miserable now - all because of you!"), she makes a friend, Jessica, at a class for making comics, and her English improves. But then, Robin's mother tells her they are moving again - to Virginia.

Peppered with the occasional flashback to Robin's life in Korea, and her mother's history as well, this is a novel of being uprooted and growing where you're planted - even when you have no choice in the matter - and finding the things that make you happy.

See also: Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai, Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai show less

Robin (Chuna) Ha’s Almost American Girl details her life growing up in South Korea as a tween before moving to Alabama with her mother. She examines the culture shock of living in a foreign country without a strong grasp of the common language while also discussing the events about which she only learned later that led her mother to relocate them, rooted in patriarchal culture norms of South Korea. She desperately seeks a sense of belonging in her new home, struggling to find friends and connections. Ha’s work compliments other immigrant narratives, such as the work of Hyeseung Song or Qang Julie Wang, while using the graphic novel medium to connect with a wider range of audiences. For all the discussion of the U.S. as a “melting show more pot,” Ha demonstrates the cost of such high temperatures in forging assimilation. Her work is a valuable contribution to the tradition of immigrant narratives particularly in an era of increasing anti-Asian racism. show less

“I didn’t exactly fit in Korea or America. I had become Korean American. And that was okay with me.”

Written and illustrated by Robin Ha, ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL is a YA graphic memoir detailing Robin’s experience after her mother’s sudden relocation of them from Seoul, Korea to Huntsville, Alabama when Robin was fourteen. Through vivid artwork and intimate dialogue, ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL details Robin’s ensuing struggle with extreme culture shock and isolation in her unexpected new home.

Growing up with a single mother in 1990s Korea wasn’t always easy. As a result, Robin had become used to being a bit of an “outsider” even in her own homeland. But when her mother announces on their vacation to Alabama that she’s show more marrying the man they’re visiting and moving them both to America, Robin is devastated. Stranded in Alabama with a stepfamily that seems committed to disliking her, a school without any ESL classes, cut off from her friends at home, and no access to her beloved comic books, Robin struggles to find her footing.

ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL is a story about immigration, belonging, and art as a place of safety, connection, and refuge. But even more than that, it is a story of mother-daughter relationships and finding compassion for the often invisible struggles of our parents. Ha’s artwork brilliantly weaves Robin’s present-day experiences in Alabama with flashbacks to her — and her mother’s — time in Korea, creating a poignant and moving story of intergenerational resilience and triumph.

CW: racism, sexism, bullying, divorce show less

An immersive memoir about an Asian teenager who is uprooted from everything and everyone she knows and loves in South Korea and is transplanted to Alabama. Holy culture shock Batman! Robin was a bit tomboy and loved all things comic/graphic novel/manga. She has no cultural touchstones with the new family she is being thrown into by her mother. After the disaster that is the mother and daughter's experience in Alabama, the pair move to Virginia where they find community and their footing.

I'm going to be honest and say I didn't like the mom for most of the book; she was just too absorbed in her own dreams and goals to care about what she was doing to her daughter. The only time I liked the mom was when the pair was escaping Alabama. Also show more the mother seemed very thirsty for any man's attention, which led her to make really dumb decisions that you would expect from a college co-ed, not a thirty or forty-year old woman with a business and a child to take care of.

The author did an amazing job immersing the reader in the daily life of a South Korean school girl and the alienation she felt living in Alabama. I felt so much for teenage Robin; her step-family were just total assholes. I'm glad she felt more at home in Virginia, where she didn't stand out as the "foreign kid" but also had an awkward time fitting in with the other Korean kids - that is just a realistic teenage phase. Robin's first comic convention with her dear friend was the highlight of this story - you can feel the giddiness both girls have in their first experience. But what really made the narrative work for me was Robin's trip to South Korea and seeing her change and view South Korea in a new, less "nostalgic" and more realistic lens. She also sees herself as truly Asian-American, emphasis on both parts. This trip just makes the story a full circle. I look forward to reading more from Robin Ha, whether that is nonfiction or fiction. show less