PositiveLibrary JournalWhile there are several articles about Ocasio-Cortez, this book dives deep into her background, image, and ideas, and comes up with important insights. For readers interested in aspiring to politics.
Anne Helen Petersen
PositiveLibrary JournalAn impassioned call for action that, like the viral BuzzFeed article it was based on, raises more questions than answers.
Porochista Khakpour
PositiveThe Library JournalThe pieces wrestle with ideas and inner conflicts, but they also tell candid stories about immigration, illness, whiteness, and the writer’s life ... Throughout, she documents her survival of white America as a Iranian American; yet, Khakpour seems to ask on every page: Is this all survival is? ... Emotions of sorrow, anger, and anxiety loom large in Khakpour’s inner and outer experiences in America, but the humor in her reflections keep this book immune from wallowing. A triumphant entry in the personal essay canon.
ed. by Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary
RaveLibrary JournalThe literary world has seen an explosion of crossing narratives lately; it is easy to forget about the increasingly nuanced, complicated, and human ways that immigrant lives unfold after arrival. This collection contributes to the burgeoning canon of works set beyond the crossing ... Most powerful of all is its subtle work of demonstrating that violent immigration policies implicate everyone in a country, immigrant and citizen alike ... A standout collection that adds new dimension and depth to the lived experiences of immigrants long after they settle in a new community.
Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
RaveLibrary JournalIn short chapters traversing time and space, Castillo writes of his childhood as an undocumented immigrant before DACA was implemented, presenting a powerful, kaleidoscopic arrangement of history and thought. In the lead up to Castillo\'s own border crossings as an adult with green card status, readers meet multiple generations of his family. While the border is the site of recurring traumas, Castillo manages to draw uncanny powers of observation from its presence in his life ... In large part an attempt to answer the question of how to create a landscape of memories divorced from spectacle, this inventively rendered memoir provides an intimate, important look at the immigrant experience, family and intergenerational trauma, and coping with the ongoing presence of uncertainty in one\'s life.
Keah Brown
RaveLibrary JournalBrown\'s narrative is a bright and delicious exercise in transparency. Her desire to be beautiful, her angst about not yet knowing romantic love, and her longing for designer clothes intermingle with stark stories about life with cerebral palsy ... All in all, this title details lovingly and unsparingly how Brown\'s life has sputtered and roared along the way to result in the budding author she is today ... Readers with lives like Brown\'s will find solace in this debut; others will be similarly moved by her honesty and carbonated wit.
