#MMGM: We are Here: Connecting Flights, edited by Ellen Oh
ABOUT THE BOOK
Twelve powerhouse Asian American authors explore themes of identity and belonging in the entwined experiences of young people whose family roots may extend to East and Southeast Asia, but who are themselves distinctly American.
REVIEW
For me, reading this book was like looking through a window into experiences different from my own. Each of the twelve stories in this book is about an Asian American young person facing questions of who they are and who they want to be while traveling through Chicago Gateway International Airport. Beginning with the story of Paul, written by Christina Soontornvat, who is traveling to Thailand with his family only to discover at the last minute that his grandmother is carrying his grandfather's ashes in her bag. This leads to difficulties at the TSA check point. Each of the other stories connects in some way to this precipitating event. The stormy weather complicates things as flights are delayed or cancelled, adding to the chaos. Each of the twelve characters interacts with one or more of the other characters which I found fascinating and must have been a great deal of work for the authors & editor.
Each character also faces racist behavior from some of their fellow travelers. Lee is tormented by two security personnel on break who don't believe he owns and plays the guitar he carries with him. Jae gets confronted by an angry women who assumes he's the brother of the wandering little girl she corralled. Mindy doesn't know how to tell her two dads that she doesn't want to visit Korea because despite her ancestry, she doesn't feel comfortable traveling to a place where her two dads will have to pretend to be just friends. Ari tries to care for her six-year-old brother and the rude comments that come when he gets his finger stuck in a chair while wrestling with her dual Chinese and Jewish identities. AJ who struggles with his self-confidence as he listens to his fellow Filipino basketball teammates say rude things about his friend and teammate Saul as well as racist statements about the Chinese. Natalie faces numerous micro-aggressions from her traveling companions, her best friend, Beth and her parents, and when she gets upset about it, it leads to a fight with her friend as well as a confrontation with an impatient, rude white woman.
Henri and his father James, both diagnosed as autistic, work to communicate as they travel through the airport and Henri decides to write a story about a Korean autistic character because he's never found one in the books he loves. Camilla reluctantly travels to the Philippines with her mother and sister uncertain about meeting the cousin her age that she's heard about so often from her mother. When she and her sister overhear some racist comments about an Asian girl (Mindy) Camilla ponders just what it means to be half Filipino but look white. As Jane waits for her flight to see Uncle Jimmy, she sees racist behavior and it forces her to think about what happened to her grandfather and what, if anything, she should do about it. Khoi worries about being able to speak Vietnamese and behaving properly when he gets to Vietnam with his family. An encounter with AJ (see above) helps ease his fears. And Soojin's anger at her mother for moving them back to Korea from New York, leaving her father behind, simmers just beneath the surface as she struggles to find a way to get her mother to stay despite the racist treatment they have received.
Each character feels genuine and sympathetic inspiring feelings of empathy as I read their stories. While each character's situation was different, they each struggled to reconcile the good and bad treatment they experienced in the airport as well as their own internal beliefs and situations. I especially loved the way the different characters helped each other and inspired hope for others by finding their own confidence and courage. As the editor mentions in the note at the end of the book, hopefully many young readers will find a mirror in one or more of these characters. And if the book inspires greater empathy and connection than I feel like it will have succeeded in its purpose. Admittedly reading about the awful behavior that the characters ran into was difficult, it's appalling that people sometimes behave in such a way, but the stories end up being hopeful. It was satisfying as some of the rude individuals received their comeuppance as the characters found their voices. An important book that opens the door for important discussions for young people and adults.
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