Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

Almost American Girl

A Graphic Memoir

Robin Ha

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · January 28, 2020

Harvey Award Nominee, Best Children or Young Adult Book A powerful and moving teen graphic novel memoir about immigration, belonging, and how arts can save a life—perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and Hey, Kiddo.

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Who it’s for
A personal graphic memoir about immigration, family ties, and finding a way forward through art.
Themes
Immigration and belonging, Searching for identity, Art as a path to possibility
Genres
Graphic Biography, Immigration for Teens, Cartooning

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About this book

Harvey Award Nominee, Best Children or Young Adult Book A powerful and moving teen graphic novel memoir about immigration, belonging, and how arts can save a life—perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and Hey, Kiddo. For as long as she can remember, it’s been Robin and her mom against the world. Growing up as the only child of a single mother in Seoul, Korea, wasn’t always easy, but it has bonded them fiercely together.

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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 in Seoul 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. This nonfiction graphic novel with four starred reviews is an excellent choice for teens and also accelerated tween readers, both for independent reading and units on immigration, memoirs, and the search for identity.

Art and Belonging

A personal graphic memoir about immigration, family ties, and finding a way forward through art.

Come here for

  • A close look at the strain and strength of a mother-daughter bond
  • Immigration and belonging seen through one young artist’s experience

Expect

  • A nonfiction story told in graphic memoir form
  • Comics and drawing at the heart of a new beginning

Where it sits

Immigration for Teens62%
Graphic Biography60%
Cartooning24%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Activity Books
  • Cartooning
  • Drawing
  • Artists' Lives
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Women's Lives
  • Graphic Biography
  • Graphic History
  • Graphic Social Topics
Authors
Robin Ha
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
January 28, 2020
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Immigration and belonging · Searching for identity · Art as a path to possibility
Reading lane
Activity Books