"Beautiful Country" by Qian Julie Wang is a memoir that follows the author's childhood as an undocumented Chinese immigrant in New York City. The author recounts the struggles and hardships faced by her family as they navigate life in America without legal status, dealing with poverty, hunger, and fear of deportation. Through the author's eyes, readers get a glimpse into the challenges of adapting to a new country, culture, and economic status while living on the margins of society.
The writing style of "Beautiful Country" is described as compelling, vivid, descriptive, and honest. The author's storytelling captures the reader's attention from the very beginning, providing a raw and emotional account of growing up as an undocumented child in America. explores themes of resilience, hope, strength, and perseverance, offering a poignant reflection on the immigrant experience and the generational trauma that comes with navigating a system that works to maintain white supremacy.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Triggers/content warnings include experiences of racism, poverty, hunger, trauma, fear of deportation, and family dysfunction.
From The Publisher:
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER
The moving story of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world-an incandescent debut from an astonishing new talent
A TODAY SHOW #READWITHJENNA PICK
In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to "beautiful country." Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, Qian's parents were professors; in America, her family is "illegal" and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.
In Chinatown, Qian's parents labor in sweatshops. Instead of laughing at her jokes, they fight constantly, taking out the stress of their new life on one another. Shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, Qian takes refuge in the library and masters the language through books, coming to think of The Berenstain Bears as her first American friends. And where there is delight to be found, Qian relishes it: her first bite of gloriously greasy pizza, weekly "shopping days," when Qian finds small treasures in the trash lining Brooklyn's streets, and a magical Christmas visit to Rockefeller Center-confirmation that the New York City she saw in movies does exist after all.
But then Qian's headstrong Ma Ma collapses, revealing an illness that she has kept secret for months for fear of the cost and scrutiny of a doctor's visit. As Ba Ba retreats further inward, Qian has little to hold onto beyond his constant refrain: Whatever happens, say that you were born here, that you've always lived here.
Inhabiting her childhood perspective with exquisite lyric clarity and unforgettable charm and strength, Qian Julie Wang has penned an essential American story about a family fracturing under the weight of invisibility, and a girl coming of age in the shadows, who never stops seeking the light.
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Liked It (2) |
Reader Stats (17):
Read It (9) | |
Want To Read (7) | |
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