YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Vickie Nam
Publisher:	Harper Paperbacks
Release date:	01 August, 2001
List price:	~~$13.00~~
Our price:	$10.40 that is 20% off!

YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American

Average rating: Stars

great!!!

When i first started reading Yell-oh girls, it was kind of boreing and i didn't think i would like it. What drew me to it was the reveiw ont he back of the book. Eventually after i got through the first few pages, i found the book to be really interesting and informative. I thought the author did a great job putting this book together, with all the stories she added into it. I really enjoyed all of them. I never knew what these young girls had to go through. Being called a foreigner everywhere you go,and being stuck between two countries and not knowing which to choose. It must have been really hard!! overall, i thought this book was great!!! :)

YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American - Vickie Nam

Worth YELL-ing about!

"YELL-Oh Girls!: Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American," an anthology edited by Vickie Nam, contains more than 80 pieces (both poetry and prose) written by young Asian American women. There are also a few "mentor pieces" by established Asian American women. The book is organized thematically into 5 main sections: "Orientation: Finding the Way Home," in which writers "explore the Asian American landscape"; "Family Ties," which focuses on relationships with family members; "Dolly Rage," which deals with the intersections of physical appearance, difference, and discrimination; "Finding My Voice," about "wrestling with language, trying to somehow find the words to portray ourselves"; and finally "Girlwind: Emerging Voices for Change," which celebrates the activism of "the women warriors of tomorrow."

Each author is identified by her name (except for a small number of anonymous or pseudonymous pieces), age, and town they have lived or currently live in. Cities from many parts of the United States (California, Hawai'i, Illinois, Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas, etc.) are represented, and there is at least one writer from Canada. The young writers, who range in age from 14 to 22, have cultural/ancestral roots in many different nations: Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Laos.

Over 300 pages long, this anthology is full of fascinating selections. Most of them are very short. Some seem like seeds of what could become longer pieces. Some pieces seem to whet the appetite more successfully than satisfy it, but the best pieces are really noteworthy.

Some of the selections I found most impactful are as follows. "Her Three-Inch Feet," by Jenny Yu: a moving portrait of a great-aunt who had evidently undergone footbinding. "The Other Sister," by Kim McKee: about being adopted and having Caucasian family members. "Going Undercover," by Wendy M. Thompson: a reflection on having both Chinese and African American parentage. "Zine Grrrl," by Kristy Chan: a fascinating piece about alternative literary creativity. "Waving Fans," by Mia Chan Mi Park: about being the drummer for an all-Asian American female rock band. This last piece has my favorite line from the whole book: "YES, Asian American women also rock. . . and we rock hard, dammit!"

This book challenges stereotypes and offers bold new images of young Asian American women. And while rooted in the Asian American female experience, the book addresses many themes that are equally relevant to men and to women of other ethnic/cultural groups. Overall, this is a fine anthology, and a fitting companion to such groundbreaking anthologies as "Home Girls" and "This Bridge Called My Back." "YELL-Oh Girls!" is, in my opinion, a good choice for college courses, for reading groups, or for individual reading.

Vickie Nam - YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American

Expected more

I went into this book with the expectation of learning more about the asian american story- instead I got very generic stories. I think it would be better if the writters weren't all just teenagers and early twenties.

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