Winona Guo

Actually finished this a few days ago but just hadn't had the chance to sit down and write some thoughts on it. Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi spent their gap year traveling to all of the United States to interview residents about who they are (the cover quote comes from one of their indigenous interviewees), so this book is primarily American narratives with some explanatory commas on the side for added historical and cultural context. In some ways, this book might feel from a specific point in time (Heather Heyer's mom is interviewed, as is the then-mayor of Santa Fe Javier Gonzales who passed away last year), but on the other hand people's origin stories and how they view themselves is evergreen, especially if it is informed by historical events (I've described my own background before for things on my Asia-Asian America shelf, but the fact that both sides of my family came during the Chinese Exclusion Era and long before the 1965 immigration law changes shapes much of my view).

I do think some of the people who might need this aren't going to read it, but I also appreciate how it is structured sort of as an introductory textbook to considering the ways identity impacts our lives (especially if other people invalidate that existence). It's a good introductory text to people, especially if you're used to a homogenous community, but I would also consider using this as a jumping off point to explore deeper into any particular lived experience you're not familiar with.… (meer)