I distinctly remember when I woke up ‘different’ shortly after my family and I migrated to Aotearoa from Korea. I was confused, for nothing about me had changed from where I stood. I ‘found out’ that I was ‘Asian’, a ‘FOB’, a ‘chink’; all the words I did not know I was until I arrived in this foreign land. Having no one to share this experience with, nor having the insight as an 11-year-old that this was something I could reject, I internalised these thorny words and saw myself as ‘Other’. Such meant that I grew up rejecting the rich, enduring culture and language of my whakapapa (cultural lineage) of Korea. Coming across the book ‘The Day I Woke Up...
An heirloom, a legacy, a documented progression of the immigrant story painted beautifully through the weaving of words and whimsical watercolor - The Day I Woke Up Different calls attention to the quiet humility of discovery when struggling to find and fall in love with the meaning of being, of becoming, Asian American. Many amongst us have walked the journey that Anh and Quyền experience and find ourselves seen once more. For others, we may be learning for the first time about the layered contradictions that are the lives of children born not of this land and of the children's children that are confronted with the inevitable question - am I enough? In a time when Asians in the United...
The Day I Woke Up Different is a book that resonated with me on many levels, one that shines a light on the complexity of my own childhood upbringing. The story begins with our hero, Anh, who embarks on a journey of finding acceptance of his culture. As his curiosity draws him near to developing insight about his Vietnamese identity, Anh encounters external forces that pressured him to assimilate into a homogenous American culture. Yet, Anh finds solace in his quest for authenticity when he meets Quyền, a high-spirited dark-skinned Vietnamese gal, who helped bridge the gap between his Vietnamese and American duality. What I love so much about this book is how both text and illustration are rendered beautifully...
I seriously wished I had this book while growing up. As I was reading each colorful page, I actually saw myself in BOTH Anh and Quyền in the story, and it is not often for me to experience this as a first-generation American-born. I saw my childhood flash through my eyes, remembering how hard it was to articulate the confusion I felt while growing up in a very non-diverse neighborhood. And to see and read these moments of struggles and encouragement -- made me feel less alone, more proud as a child of Chinese-Vietnamese refugees, and realizing how much love I have for the worlds that exist within my identity, heritage, and culture. You gotta pick up this book! And...
