American Like Me: Book 1 Post 1

 

Honestly, the main reason I chose American Like Me is because of all the Indian last names I recognized on the cover. Padma Lakshi, Kumail Nanjiani, Ravi Patel, Reshma Saujani: I've always deeply loved and valued my culture and ethnicity, and it made me immensely happy to see several people from my background accomplish things important enough to be featured in this book. While I've only read America's memoir as of now, I'm immensely excited to read the rest of this book.

I like autobiographies a lot. Things written in first person often engage me because I feel like I'm listening to someone speak. It feels like a very long conversation and I tend to learn a lot from them. America is funny, witty, and has a very impactful way of articulating her emotions. Her story about growing up in an environment where she was forced to navigate what an "American like her" means was quite touching. Growing up as an expat, all I ever wanted as a child was to really feel like I'm from a place. Despite speaking the language and understanding the traditions, I've always felt like a foreigner in India. Dubai is where I was born and raised - but I'm not a citizen and will never really be one. And now that I live on the other side of the world and want to be here in the future, the whole "where am I from" thing is further complicated. As America's mom once said, my parents have also always insinuated that I should shut my maleriada self up and thank my lucky stars for the privileges I've had growing up. And I am very grateful!

But when you grow up between cultures, there's a lot of unique experiences (good and bad) and difficult things you have to come to terms with very early in your life. I know a lot of these stories are going to hit home for me.

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