Almost American Girl

By: Robin Ha

By: Julia Krasko, Ashley Kowalewski, Savanna Lai, Dillon Malner

Book Review:

Robin Ha's Almost American Girl is an illustrated memoir chronicling a fourteen-year-old Korean girl and her mother's journey as they navigate life in translation. The story begins in Seoul before the two flies to Alabama for their yearly vacation. While in Alabama, we quickly learn that Ha Chuna's mother is getting married, ending their life in Korea and beginning a new one in America. Before traversing the minefield that is the American public school system, Chuna chooses her new American name—Robin Ha. After navigating her way through two schools, two states, and two cultures, we see Robin return to Korea for the 2002 World Cup as a college student. Robin sees her former home as a place now foreign to her after many years of difficult transitions, confusion, alienation, cultural and language barriers. Reconnecting with her middle school friends from Seoul, she sees Korean gender roles as repressive and troublesome. Finally, she understands why her mother took her from this place and culture she once called home in search of new horizons—to become an independent Korean American. 

The book is beautifully illustrated, including Robin Ha's original comic drawings from the times in her life we see in the panels. The panels are given life with watercolor painted characters and settings, even utilizing various color palettes to emphasize further the mood and tone of each event or chapter. Clean, vibrant colors valorize a life in Seoul, while an often-monochromatic background follows Robin throughout her time in America. Memories have a sepia tinge, displaying their distance from the 'now,' and nightmares are shrouded in darkness to provide an almost hopeless atmosphere. This creative use of illustration and the visual arts to tell this story is the perfect setting for a young Robin. As a young character, we see not just her love of reading comics, but an artist's desire to create her own, which she carries throughout to the book's ending, where we see her as a college artist. This book goes beyond merely having a striking aesthetic. 

Almost American Girl gives us a tender account of what life is like when we are stripped of everything we know and forced to adapt to a world wholly different from our own. The story is much more than your average coming-of-age tale about angst, insecurity, growth, isolation, and eventual maturity. These elements are all present, but what stands out is Robin's struggle and subsequent ability to overcome all of this in translation. She must translate and assimilate her words, thoughts, behaviors, attitudes, and more in a foreign, confusing tongue. Watching her accomplish this, defend herself against racism, and find her voice as a Korean American is a humbling and emotive experience. This book is a must-read for graphic novel fans and lovers of teenage high school dramas alike. It is also a deeply personal investigation of family, culture, the self, and what it means to be 'home.'

Author's Biography:

Robin Ha is the author and illustrator of Almost American Girl. She spent the first half of her life in Korea and then moved to America at the age of fourteen. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she studied illustration. She is best known for her books: Cook Korean and Almost American Girl, though she has also worked on smaller projects and has had some of her smaller pieces featured in a variety of magazines. She started writing her book Almost American Girl, after she realized that the popularity of immigrant stories was on the rise and it took her about five years to complete this graphic novel. Ha claims that when she had first moved to the United States she felt alone and had a hard time bonding with her other classmates and making friends. She was eventually able to find a way to bond with people through comic books, specifically Manga. Some of the comic books that had a big influence on her and her career included: Lineage, Full House, and other various comics that stemmed from the Asian, American, and European cultures. She hopes, that with this book, she can shine a positive light on what immigrants go through on their journeys. The idea was to show the struggles that they go through and to show the similarities that immigrants share with everyone else around them. She says that she wants her readers to look at this story and realize that people go through different journeys and that everyone has their own emotions, so people should strive to be patient and kind with others.

 

Sites used: 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14542888.Robin_Ha

https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-robin-ha-almost-american-girl/?amp=1 (picture came from this website)

https://youtu.be/P4KXIse0U9M

Lesson Activity:

Description of lesson:

This activity will be done once the classroom has finished reading the entire novel. Each student will be asked to write a journal entry about a particular moment in the book where they saw some sort of change in the character’s behavior. The students will be asked to describe what they thought caused this change in the character's attitude and how they think this effected the main character’s story. After about 10 minutes of journaling, the students will then be put into groups of 4-5 people for about 30 minutes and discuss their findings. They will show the moment in the book that they chose and explain their journal entry to their group peers. After they have explained why they chose this moment of change in the book, the students will be asked to discuss why they think the author included these changes within the book and how the drawings effect the reader’s perception of the character’s reaction and attitude toward the change. At the end of the class, each group will quickly discuss one of the changes that they found the most interesting in front of the class. In addition, they will describe why the author chose to include this moment and how the drawings helped to emphasize the theme of change in the writing.

Goal of Lesson Plan:

The goal of this lesson plan is to help students analyze the transformation of complex characters within the story. By analyzing the drawings of the novel, students will be able to work together to produce more ideas and have a better understanding of the motifs throughout the novel. They will have to use critical thinking in order to understand the characters choices within the text and the impact that these choices had in the story. Then, the students will be able to learn how to connect these changes to the author’s themes within the book.

 

California Common Core Standards:

English Language Arts Standards – Reading: Literature

 

 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. 

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place how it sets a formal or informal tone). 

 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5: Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) creates such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. 

 

Instructional Resources:

1. Teaching “Asian American”

1. https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2013/i-am-asian-american

2. Bittle, Andrea. “I Am Asian American.” Teaching Tolerance, 2013, www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2013/i-am-asian-american. 

3. What is “Asian American” and who falls under the category? The Teaching Tolerance Magazine teaches the diversity of the Asian American community and the Invisible Student identity. The article also offers a selection of books with Asian American narratives that students could examine. 

2. Korean American - The Pew Research Center

1. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/rise-of-asian-americans-2012-analysis/koreans/

2. “Korean Americans.” Pew Research Center, 8 Sept. 2017, www.pewsocialtrends.org/rise-of-asian-americans-2012-analysis/koreans/. 

3. The Pew Research Center breaks down the Korean American category. Here students can learn about statistics regarding Korean Americans such as population size and the median annual household income. 

3. Trends in Korean American Immigration

1. http://sites.bu.edu/koreandiaspora/issues/history-of-korean-immigration-to-america-from-1903-to-present/

2. Chung, Soojin. “History of Korean Immigration to America, from 1903 to Present.” Boston Korean Diaspora Project, Boston University School of Theology, sites.bu.edu/koreandiaspora/issues/history-of-korean-immigration-to-america-from-1903-to-present/. 

3. The Boston University School of Theology breaks down the three waves of Korean American immigration since 1903. Students can reference this page when referencing the different waves of Korean American immigration and map a timeline of Korean Americans in the United States. 

4. “Almost American Girl” Robin Ha Interview

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSXRu9zeWXw&t=795s

2. Super Swift. “‘Almost American Girl’ Robin Ha Interview.” Youtube, 18 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSXRu9zeWXw&t=795s.

3. Robin Ha sits down to talk about her illustrated memoir. Students can learn about  her writing and drawing process as well as how she became an author.

5. Discussions of Graphic Memoirs with Malaka Gharib and Robin Ha

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYA4nl3aero

2. One More Page Books, “Discussion of Graphic Memoirs with Malaka Gharib and Robin Ha.” Youtube, 18 Aug. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYA4nl3aero.

3. Authors Malaka Gharib and Robin Ha talk about their graphic memoirs. They also talk about using personal anecdotes to talk about the human experience as well as the immigrant experience in America. 

6. The Language Barrier - TEDxCardinalNewmanHS

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks4VL0VNekI

2. TEDxTalks, “The Language Barrier | Thaouyen Emily Pham | TEDxCardinalNewmanHS.” Youtube, 6 Mar. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks4VL0VNekI.

3. Thaouyen Emily Pham talks about language barriers and how it affects communication and education. Thaouyen mentions using dance and movement in order to overcome language and communication barriers. Students can reflect on the different ways in which Robin tries to communicate with those around her despite the language barrier throughout the novel. 

7. The 1992 L.A. Riots and Political Unrest

1. https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/1992-los-angeles-riots-civil-unrest-riots-video/asian-americans/

2. “The 1992 L.A. Riots and Civil Unrest: Asian Americans.” PBS LearningMedia, PBS , 6 Nov. 2020, ca.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/1992-los-angeles-riots-civil-unrest-riots-video/asian-americans/. 

3. TW: Violence

4. The graphic novel briefly mentioned the 1992 L.A. Riots. This video published by PBS introduces students to the riots and what led to the culture clash between the Korean American and African American communities during that time. Students may then ask themselves why Robin's mother was wary about moving to Los Angeles. 

8. Teaching Identity

1. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/standing-democracy/understanding-identity

2. “Understanding Identity.” Facing History and Ourselves, www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/standing-democracy/understanding-identity. 

3. What is identity and how do we teach identity? This website provides materials, teaching strategies, as well as activities for teachers to teach students about identity. Students will then reflect on what their respective identities are as well as workshop the different identities that exist. 

9. Recognizing Privileges and Being an Ally

1. https://libguides.nmhschool.org/c.php?g=178885&p=1175937

2. “#BlackLivesMatter: Background, Context, Resources.” LibGuides, NMH Library, 4 Nov. 2020, libguides.nmhschool.org/c.php?g=178885. 

3. Before moving to Virginia, Robin was bullied by her classmates in Alabama because of how she was different from them. The Schauffler Library at NMH offers a wide variety of resources for teachers to teach students about White Privilege, Asian Pacific American Voices, and how to be an ally to people of color.