Published: 2020
Author: Robin Ha
Illustrator: Robin Ha
Genres: Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, Comics, Biography, Contemporary, Family, Coming Of Age
Audience (Grade Levels): Grades 7-12
Number of Stars: 5-Stars
Goodreads Link: Almost American Girl
Triggers: Extreme culture shock, intense isolation, parent-child conflict, xenophobia, family upheaval
Review By: Mary Klucznik
Publisher’s Summary
A powerful and timely teen graphic novel memoir—perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and Hey, Kiddo—about a Korean-born, non-English-speaking girl who is abruptly transplanted from Seoul to Huntsville, Alabama, and struggles with extreme culture shock and isolation, until she discovers her passion for comic arts.
For as long as she can remember, it’s been Robin and her mom against the world. Growing up in the 1990s as the only child of a single mother in Seoul, Korea, wasn’t always easy, but it has bonded them fiercely together.
So when a vacation to visit friends in Huntsville, Alabama, unexpectedly becomes a permanent relocation—following her mother’s announcement that she’s getting married—Robin is devastated. Overnight, her life changes. She is dropped into a new school where she doesn’t understand the language and struggles to keep up. She is completely cut off from her friends at home and has no access to her beloved comics. At home, she doesn’t fit in with her new stepfamily. And worst of all, she is furious with the one person she is closest to—her mother.
Then one day Robin’s mother enrolls her in a local comic drawing class, which opens the window to a future Robin could never have imagined.
Review
Robin Ha’s memoir is not your typical middle school / high school story. Hers involves the usual growing pains but is complicated by the fact that she’s being raised by a single parent, which is not a state that is highly regarded in Korean culture, goes on vacation only to learn that she’s actually just immigrated to the United States, her mother gets married, giving her a whole new Korean family to contend with, she has no friends and oh, by the way – she hates her mom! That is a lot for anyone to cope with and Ha handles the telling of her story with honesty and respect.
I read the verso page and knew this book was going to be good. Ha used artwork she created as a teenager for the opening chapters and each of those is set off with a Polaroid-like watercolor. She is so talented!
Almost American Girl is the perfect book to use to discuss relationships, parenting, immigration and friendships. She shows how terrifying change can be and that it isn’t something you just “get over”. Instead change comes from altering your circumstances, taking a chance, and modifying your perspective. Her mother is incredibly brave and not afraid to change everything, even if it means uprooting their entire lives.
Ha used color creatively to show when a character is speaking Korean versus English. It’s incredibly effective and I felt like I could hear the speaker’s natural voice. The colors throughout the text are natural and engaging. And she uses this so well to show emotion, especially as many of the scenes involve her tumultuous relationship with her mother.
The reader learns a lot about contemporary Korean culture, how hard it is to be a mom and the daughter of a single parent. You feel for both mother and daughter as they maneuver through a minefield of issues. It leaves you feeling like you’ve just jumped rope and skipped from giving your allegiance from first one then the other.
Ha’s mother shows that deep down she really does know her daughter and drives her an hour to take art classes that teach comic book illustration and writing. That move helps solidify their mother-daughter relationship and makes Ha give her mother the respect she deserves.
Classroom & Curricular Connections
- ELA / Memoir & Visual Literacy: Analyze how Ha utilizes graphic illustration, panel structuring, and distinct color shifts (visualizing Korean speech in colored dialogue bubbles vs. white for English) to capture language barriers and emotional isolation.
- Social Studies / Modern Immigration: Examine the historical and cultural adjustments of South Korean immigrants in the 1990s, the unique social environment of the American South, and the stigma of single parenthood in traditional Korean culture.
- SEL (Social-Emotional Learning): Focus on managing massive life changes, building emotional resilience, resolving deep mother-daughter conflicts, and using creative arts as a therapeutic outlet for identity and healing.
Diversity & Representation
Almost American Girl is a poignant, authentic representation of the Asian American immigrant experience, particularly highlighting the isolation of adjusting to a non-diverse US region without English proficiency. It also breaks ground by offering an honest, raw perspective on the real-world social stigma, systemic hardships, and emotional nuances surrounding divorce and single motherhood in Korean society.
Readalikes
- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
- Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
- Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao
