Sun Yung Shin

I forget exactly why I sought out this book, but I really enjoyed it. The book cover describes this as "poetry as essay," which definitely feels right. Packed with big mythology and references to classics (some of which I had to look up to refresh my memory), with themes of adoption, motherhood, and identity.

I really loved the illustrations (especially the graphs!). I loved the bits on Korean. The most memorable poem in the collection for me was just a tiny fragment of "Autoclonography," -- "you are small again a small i a short thing with a black dot for a face -- we have always wanted a dot for a face -- so much easier to look beautiful every day..."

Ambitious and moving.… (mere)

This multi-racial story and poem has the unifying thread of we all come from the same stardust and from single cells, from there are stories are linked by migration stories - places and beings. Each migration story is unique but similar in the themes of coming from somewhere and someone. The vibrant illustrations reinforce the words and can help to demystify the story for younger children, adults can take in the artwork and enjoy the colors and talent.

I appreciated the authors did not shy away from talking about race in a multifold way, including talking about slavery and calling it out: "White people called my ancestors "slaves," and Native boarding schools: "I come from ... ancestors forced to learn English at boarding schools." Addressing it in children's books is how we grow our racial fluency and to face our realities.

I can see teachers or artists using this book as a jumping-off point for activities related to identity.

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a bound paper copy of this book. I have a feeling the pages will pop with vibrancy.

Previewed an e-copy with NetGalley… (mere)

Outsiders Within reveals, while transracial adoption is a practice traditionally considered benevolent, it often exacts a heavy emotional, cultural, and even economic toll. Through compelling essays, fiction, poetry, and art, the contributors to this landmark publication carefully explore this most intimate aspect of globalization. Finally, in the unmediated voices of the adults who have matured within it, we find a rarely-considered view of adoption, an institution that pulls apart old families and identities and grafts new ones.

Moving beyond personal narrative, these transracially adopted writers from around the world tackle difficult questions about how to survive the racist and ethnocentric worlds they inhabit, what connects the countries relinquishing their children to the countries importing them, why poor families of color have their children removed rather than supported—about who, ultimately, they are. In their inquiry, they unseat conventional understandings of adoption politics, ultimately reframing the controversy as a debate that encompasses human rights, peace, and reproductive justice. Selected Reading Questionnaire.… (mere)

This is a painful and thought-provoking collection of essays by local writers on their personal experiences with race in Minnesota. A common theme that I sensed throughout the essays was that unlike the overt racism for which the southern U.S. is notorious, racism in Minnesota is present, expressed and revealed subtly, often in the form of microaggressions. Which is more harmful? We Minnesotans often pride ourselves on our progressiveness and "Minnesota Nice," so I read these with feelings of both shame and anger, as well as a kind of helplessness, wondering what kind of difference I personally can make to improve the experiences of Minnesota's POC.… (mere)