Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir

Spectacular memoir -- searchingly honest, full of emotion, really beautifully drawn and written.

I love Robin Ha's other work, so I was very excited for Almost American Girl. This isn't a standout memoir on a technical level, just competent, but it's a fascinating story and I learned a lot about the immigrant experience, stuff I hadn't considered or understood. Especially the end, where Robin finally gets to return to Korea as a visitor and starts to understand how much she and the horizons of her life have changed.

Trigger Warnings: Racism, Bullying, Pet Death

Almost American Girl is a graphic novel memoir about a Korean-born girl, Chuna (Robin) Ha, whose vacation in Alabama unexpectedly turns into a permanent relocation as her mother remarries. Robin doesn't speak English and is dropped into a new school where she doesn't understand much of what is happening around her. Life at home is also rough as she doesn't really fit in with her new stepfamily either. She has no connection to her friends from back in Seoul, Korea and has no access to her beloved comics either. Robin is so lonely.

This story is so powerful and raw. It really shows the struggle a lot of immigrants have when coming to a new country. On top of those struggles, instead of having a new stepfamily being there to help out and guide you, they do the completely opposite. It was heartbreaking.

The art of this was colorful and vibrant. I was easily able to keep up with what was happening in the story.

Oh, my heart ached for Robin and the pain she went through as the "other:" Korean society looks down on her single mother. Her mother moves them to Alabama, away from everything Robin loves. At school, as the only Korean student, Robin endures racism and language barriers. She feels different and excluded by her new stepfamily. Not to mention having to adjust to a new society! It's a gut-wrenching journey that makes the happy ending all the sweeter and fulfilling. Painfully, it brought up memories of immigrant kids from my childhood, who were teased or sat alone. I hope this book inspires young people to show kindness to newcomers.

Expressive illustrations and the story is nicely balanced, nothing in her life was presented as all good or all bad which to me is key for feeling like a memoir is truly being honest.

The author affectingly conveyed her loneliness and isolation early on in America. I also liked that the story wasn’t solely about finding her footing in the US, there’s interesting forays into Korean life as well, school, gender roles, beauty standards, etc., and as I mentioned above, I liked that neither country is presented as all good or all bad, each has its merits and flaws.

The balanced storytelling and honesty was most apparent and most engaging in the depiction of Chuna/Robin’s mom, the mom’s habit of not including her daughter in big life decisions that affect both of them, her choices in men, its messy stuff and to a large degree culturally dictated, there were moments I resented her on Chuna/Robin’s behalf and still more moments where I felt for this woman.

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha is a must read graphic novel memoir of Chuna, a 14 year old Korean girl, who has a strong mother striving for the best for both her and her daughter. When a vacation to America becomes a move to Alabama, Chuna’s life is turned upside down. She has been uprooted without goodbyes, but she looks for the positives, finds an American name, Robin, and meets her new family. She begins school and ventures through days and days of trying to understand English, make friends, and connect. Although trying to remain positive for mom, while finding solace with her art, she cannot help missing her friends from home, her comics, and her favorite foods. Will Robin ever find America to be home? Is Alabama and her new step-father good for Robin? What will Robin’s future hold?

Robin Ha shares her life story and I am so happy she shared it with the reader. Her resilience, her honesty, her determination, and her heart will bring you to root for her as she shares struggles through high school, which are already a challenge, but in a new country, state, and feeling alone...Wow! Robin mentions in the acknowledgements- “Writing a memoir is like wearing your heart on your sleeve for the world to see.” Your heart and your mother’s heart have touched my heart and will impact readers to come!

Robin's mom makes a lot of decisions for her, which she sometimes resents. Like when they go on vacation to Alabama from Seoul and then they end of staying in America because her mom is getting married. She starts middle school not speaking any English in a school without any sort of ELL program. She's deeply unhappy at first but then begins to find her way and connects through her love of comics. But at the same time, her mom's new marriage is falling apart.
The art compliments the book with creative use of color whether it is rose-colored glasses symbolism or depicting which language was being used Korean or English.

I was drawn in by the story of a 14-year-old South Korean girl suddenly finding herself an immigrant living in Huntsville, Alabama, struggling with English, racism, and bullies. But by the end I was fascinated by the portrait of her mother, a strong-willed and fiercely independent woman who resented the sexism of Korean culture and decided better opportunities for her and her daughter might be found elsewhere.

A coming of age story complicated by being pulled at age 12 from Seoul South Korea to Alabama then Virginia in 1995. Family issues and racial hostility are problems but the loneliness of isolation because of language and interests bite more deeply. Robin's eventual adjustments and understanding of her mother's reasons are well presented. The artwork expressed the emotions and moods of the characters well and for many of the characters captures individual differences clearly. The male characters don't appear too often, and sometimes are more awkwardly presented.

I loved this graphic memoir. The art expresses exactly what Robin feels all the way through the book. I think it is amazing to write and do in graphics an honest coming of age story. I read the acknowledgments in the back and I thank Robin Ha's mother for letting this to go forward.

Robin grew up in Seoul, Korea, with a single mother. Robin did not find out until later that being a single mother brought much shame from her family and the society. She only had a few memories of her father when she was very little. Her mother was a hairdresser and until she went to school, she thought of the shop as home. When a customer gave her two parakeets, she became attached to them and was shocked when her mother told her that she gave them back to the owner. Robin will get many bad surprises, like when her mother told her that they were going to Alabama for a vacation. When they landed, they were met by a Mr. Kim, and he drove them to meet his daughter and all his brother's family. Her mother went apartment hunting. Boom! Her mother had not told her about her planning to marry Mr. Kim. Kim started back to school in Alabama and was an easy target for bullies at school. She didn't fit in at school. She did not know much English, didn't know how to make friends when she couldn't understand what they were saying. Her only friend was the long neglected Kim family dog. Kim missed her friends back home and the one thing that gave her total escape, her comics.

Kim amazes me, I had also moved when I was only thirteen from the city to the suburbs, I felt isolated but of course I knew the language. But the people at the new school, I felt like a stranger there every day. I cried a lot at night in my bedroom and I could definitely know some of what Robin was going through but reading this book, I learned that her experience must have been a thousand times worse than mine.

I hope that every one who has to move to a different school reads this book. Parents need to read it too. This book cover what it is like to feel that you do not fit in, Korean traditional values, trust between parent and child, racial prejudice, and so much more. It is a gem of a book.

Robin Ha tells how her mother brought her to the United States from Korea suddenly when she was 14 years old, and how hard it was to adjust to life in the Alabama city they moved to.

My favourite so far...

This is the story of a young girl transitioning from life in Korea to life in Alabama in America. Chuna gives herself the American name Robin as an effort to fit in. Still she struggles with change and figuring out where she fits. Sadly even her teachers aren’t much help. My heart went out to this poor lost girl who had no comforts at her new home or school. Everywhere she went she faced hostility and was either taunted or ignored. I don’t know which is worse.

The “visit” to Alabama turns into her mother’s decision to marry this ma. 14-year-old Chuna, who thought she was just going on another mother-daughter trip, grapples with culture shock, bullying, and integrating into a new family. Her mother is still her hero, and she recognizes the sacrifices she has made in order for them to survive. It’s rough going though, especially when the rest of the Kims, her new stepfamily, are not in any way supportive. Even though life wasn’t perfect in Korea, where she was bullied for different reasons. China comes from a single parent hone. This is looked on as a disgrace in Korea. One of the reasons Chumash mother wanted to leave Korea was to escape the strict expectations and prejudices that exist in the Korean culture.
Now in Alabama, most of the people she interacts with at school are White. Due to this and the language barrier where she receives no help, China is totally alone. It isn’t until her mother reminds her of her love of comics and drawing that Chuna, now going by Robin, begins to thrive. When her mother yet again escapes yet another unfortunate marriage they move to Virginia just outside of Washington. This high school is totally diverse due to the immigrants working in D.C.
The coming of age story of Chuna really tugged on my heart strings. I wanted to help her navigate her life and remove some of the struggle. But then as her life evolved the struggles shaped her into the strong woman she became.
This is a marvellous Graphic memoir for age 12-adult