Made in Asian America: A History for Young People by Christina Soontornvat, Erika Lee
Published by Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins on 4/30/24
ISBN: 0063242931
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Nonfiction, Young Adult
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads

Made in Asian America is an essential addition to any YA nonfiction collection because it informs readers of important information about American history often left out of schools’ curriculum and textbooks.  This book outlines the history of Asian Americans in the United States, focusing on the racism each group experienced, as well their resiliency.  As the story of each immigrant group unfolds, the authors repeat one or more of the four racist justifications they introduced at the beginning of the book: Those people are inferior to us, Those people are dangerous, There are too many of them, This is for their own good.  This allows readers to see why racist acts were accepted and legal, and unfortunately, how they were repeated throughout history.  Asian Americans are obviously not the only minority group to experience racism in the United States, and this book shows the interconnectedness of the Asian American experience and other marginalized groups.  The authors not only show the similarities of the injustices each group faced, but also how they worked together at different points in history to work for social justice.

This book contains a lot of information, but the authors do a good job defining and explaining potentially new terms and ideas and include maps and graphs to help create context.  There are also a lot of photographs, both historical and contemporary, to help readers better understand the material.  This book does not shy away from the difficult topics of racism, war, and violence and how it affected Asian Americans, but they also include examples of people, past and present, who have been advocates for their culture, including many young people the same age as the young adult target audience.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library