Book 1: Autobiographical Memoirs

 American Like Me, edited by America Ferrera

For my book, I picked American Like Me because I am a first-generation American too. My parents immigrated here from China, but I was born in the United States and grew up here my whole life. I feel like there are a lot of shared 'child of immigrant' experiences, such as having high expectations for yourself, adapting to cultural differences, and wanting to repay your parents back for their sacrifices. But I wanted stories that showed more unique first-generation experiences - I grew up in Indiana, which was not the most diverse place, but actually enjoyed my childhood there so I wanted to see how other people felt about their experiences growing up. I wanted to learn more about how other first-generation Americans balance their different cultures too.

My first impression of the book is that there are even more similarities in the immigrant experience than I expected. I thought the way American Ferrera wrote the introduction was really engaging because she wrote in a conversational tone where I could tell exactly what she meant. I thought the conversation of being asked "where are you really from?" was so relatable even though we speak perfect English. I liked how American talked about the lack of immigrant culture representation in the media too. Growing up, I didn't have any major influences outside of my family that had a similar ethnic background. I am now excited to see how many other experiences in the book are similar to ones I've had!