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Captures the advice that African-American mothers have been passing down to their children through the generations, complete with more than five hundred examples covering such topics as Heritage, Values, and Pride. Reprint."Amazon.com Review
As the title indicates, this is a collection (more than 200pages worth) of motherly advice. To be sure, some of it is overlyfamiliar, but much of it strikingly original, and well worthfollowing, as shown by this quote from Beverly Guy-Sheftal, aprofessor of women's studies at Spelman College: "If the shoe doesn'tfit, don't wear it!" Elsewhere, author BarbaraChase-Riboud offers these words of wisdom from her grandmother:"Remember, nobody promised you anything," and notes that her motheroften told her that "doing things without giving the impression ofsuffering was a question of good manners." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

My Mother DID Have a Dream...
My mother did have a dream... for me and my brother. But unfortunatley, she wasn't able to see it become a reality. My mother died at the young age of 28 years, a victim of breast cancer and denial. I was eight years old when she left us and I really missed out on the motherly advice that's passed on from generation to generation by mothers to their daughters. As I read the book I found "words of wisdom" from other famous black mothers and daughters such as Gladys Knight, Maya Angalou, Coretta Scott King and many others. I was always told,"it takes a village to raise a child", andI saw this book as my "village of black mothers" just trying to give one of their daughters words of encouragement and strength in her time of need. I also liked how you can add your own "words of wisdom" to pass to your own daughter. ... Read more

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Since the early nineteenth century, African-Americans have turned to Black newspapers to monitor the mainstream media and to develop alternative interpretations of public events. Ronald Jacobs tells the stories of these newspapers--in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles--for the first time, comparing African-American and "mainstream" media coverage of racial crisessuch as the Watts riot, the beating of Rodney King, the Los Angeles uprisings and the O. J. Simpson trial. In an engaging yet scholarly style, Jacobs shows us why a strong African-American press is still needed today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Seminal Study
Jacobs was on too something very substantial for sociology when he decided to investigate two major racial crises in BOTH the major and African American newspapers.Comparing such multiple publics in comparative perspective reveals what sociologists have suspected for years but were unable to articulate: The media serves as a powerful technology for maintaing the color line.While the African newspapers are shown to be an important contesting voice, we are shown that the major media's "white insincerity" perhaps not surprisingly distorted the larger debate of racial justice underscoring such crises as Watts and King (and now Cincinati).

Yet such a "white insincerity", as we learn in this study, isn't as obvious as we might expect.Indeed, by employing a narrative analysis of such coverage Jacobs teaches us how a pervasive paternalistic ideology of white supremacy articulated in the major (white) newspapers as, what Jacobs calls a "tragic narrative," prevents such crises from generating any truly meaningful national dialogue on racial inequality and oppression.

Such an excavation of the insidious racializing technologies of the hegemonic media is a fascinating and critical achievement in a field that, in many respects, has become out of touch and/or sterile on issues of race and culture (and definitely on the social role of the media as well). ... Read more

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During most of the twentieth century, Archibald J. Carey, Sr. (1868-1931) and Archibald J. Carey, Jr. (1908-1981), father and son, exemplified a blend of ministry and politics that many African American religious leaders pursued. Their sacred and secular concerns merged in efforts to improve the spiritual and material well-being of their congregations. But as political alliances became necessary, both wrestled with moral consequences and varied outcomes. Both were ministers to Chicago's largest African Methodist Episcopal Church congregations- the senior Carey as a bishop, and the junior Carey as a pastor and an attorney.

Bishop Carey associated himself mainly with Chicago mayor William Hale Thompson, a Republican, whom he presented to black voters as an ally. When the mayor appointed Carey to the city's civil service commission, Carey helped in the hiring and promotion of local blacks. But alleged impropriety for selling jobs marred the bishop's tenure. The junior Carey, also a Republican and an alderman, became head of the panel on anti-discrimination in employment for the Eisenhower administration. He aided innumerable black federal employees. Although an influential benefactor of CORE and SCLC, Carey associated with notorious FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and compromised support for Martin Luther King, Jr. Both Careys believed politics offered clergy the best opportunities to empower the black population. Their imperfect alliances and mixed results, however, proved the complexity of combining the realms of spirituality and politics.

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Heroines of African American Golf, a fully-illustrated companion volume to The African American Golfer: Her Legacy, serves as a compendium of in-depth biographies of women, collegians, and junior golfers who have defied the odds in playing in the sport of golf. Ten of the golfers' biographies included are actually written by the athletes themselves, covering their personal experiences in the sport. Fascinating photographs also illustrate many of the golfers' stories.A heroine is a daring person, good, adventurous, famous, ideal, legendary, victorious, and courageous-a role model and a goddess.The African American woman golfer personifies all of these traits and more.She is the woman of no equal in the days of modern sports.Black women today are stronger, healthier, more educated, well traveled, and living longer than ever before. Their organizations bring the sport of golf to their communities, encouraging women to become more active in the sport at all levels. This collection of biographies tells their stories, describing the adventures of heroines from the past, the present and the future. ... Read more

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The Public Prints is the first comprehensive study of the role of the earliest American newspapers in the society and culture of the eighteenth century. In the hands of Charles E. Clark, American newspaper publishing becomes a branch of the English world of print in a story that begins in the bustling streets of late seventeenth-century London and moves to the provincial towns of England and across the Atlantic. While Clark's most detailed attention in America is to the three multi-newspaper towns of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, evidence from Williamsburg, Charleston, and Barbados also contributes to generalizations about the craft and business of eighteenth-century publishing. Stressing continuing trans-Atlantic connections as well as English origins, Clark argues that the newspapers were a force both for "anglicization" in their attempts to replicate English culture in America and for "Americanization" in creating a fuller awareness of the British-American experience across colonial boundaries.He suggests, finally, that the newspapers' greatest cultural role in provincial America was the creation of a community bound by the celebration of common values and attachments through the shared ritual of reading. ... Read more

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More than any other text, The African-American Odyssey illuminates the central place of African Americans in U.S. history — not only telling the story of what it has meant to be black in America, but also how African-American history is inseparably weaved into the greater context of American history and vice versa.

This updated edition brings the story up to 2008 and the historic election of the first African-American President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Told through a clear, direct, and flowing narrative by leading scholars in the field, The African-American Odyssey draws on recent research to present black history within broad social, cultural, and political frameworks.  From Africa to the Twenty-First Century, this book follows their long, turbulent journey, including the rich culture that African Americans have nurtured throughout their history and the many-faceted quest for freedom in which African Americans have sought to counter oppression and racism.  This text also recognizes the diversity within the African-American sphere — providing coverage of all class and of women and balancing the lives of ordinary men and women with the accounts and actions of black leaders and individuals.

Customer Reviews (1)

not complete
this book was supposed to be brand new, and all new books come with a myhistory lab access code. This did not come with any access code, what was the point, now i have to spend an extra $39 to get the access code after paying $79 for this book, what a ripoff!!!! ... Read more

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Sheila's Shop invites us into a Southern beauty parlor to meet working-class African American women. Kimberly Battle-Walters spent over sixteen months interviewing and listening to women at Sheila's Shop while researching this valuable ethnographic work. Literature and the media tend to report either on the lives of upwardly mobile, middle-class African Americans or on the poor, ignoring working-class women. Sheila's Shop focuses on these women, introducing a conceptual model of _racial and gender victorization_ to explain the process by which working-class African American women learn to see themselves as victors rather than victims, despite their complex and often difficult lives. This book also provides insight into the informal support networks that are fostered in public places such as beauty shops--these support networks lay the foundation for strong African American women, families, and communities. ... Read more

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Before the founding of the United States, enslaved Africans advocated literacy as a method of emancipation. During the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, blacks were at the forefront of the debates on the establishment of public schools in the South. In fact, a wealth of ideas about the role of education in American freedom and progress emerged from African American civic, political, and religious communities and was informed by the complexity of the Black experience in America. Education as Freedom: African American Educational Thought and Activism is a groundbreaking edited text that documents and reexamines African-American empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions to knowledge-making, teaching, and learning and American education from the nineteenth through the twenty-first century, the most dynamic period of African-American educational thought and activism. African-American thought and activism regarding education burgeoned from traditional academic disciplines, such as philosophy and art, mathematics and the natural sciences, and history and psychology; from the Black church as well as from grassroot political, social, cultural, and educational activism, with the desire to assess the stake of African Americans in modernity. ... Read more

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American Frankenstein is laced with refl ective images and selective historical

details. The book paints a clear picture of the causal factors resulting in today’s

African American existence, which should educate the masses on the root causes

for the African American condition and why African Americans represent either

a vastly untapped pool of American human capital, or a huge catalyst in the

nation’s downward social spiral. It also has the potential to spark a new wave of

debates about racial relations, history and diversity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

American Frankenstein We Love You!
American Frankenstein How the United States Created a Monster the title speaks for itself.I found the book to be on target with exploring many aspects of human society as it relates to African Americans.American Frankenstein captured history, described feelings, uncovered measures of economic change, demonstrated social deprivation, attitudes in society, feelings of stress, and political attitudes.The illustrations are amazing and in supporting the message from the Author! ... Read more

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The African American influence on popular culture is among the most sweeping and lasting this country has seen. Despite a history of institutionalized racism, black artists, entertainers, and entrepreneurs have had enormous impact on American popular culture. Pioneers such as Oscar Michaeux, Paul Robeson, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Langston Hughes, Bill Bojangles Robinson, and Bessie Smith paved the way for Jackie Robinson, Nina Simone, James Baldwin, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Sidney Poitier, and Bill Cosby, who in turn opened the door for Spike Lee, Dave Chappelle, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan. Today, hip hop is the most powerful element of youth culture; white teenagers outnumber blacks as purchasers of rap music; black-themed movies are regularly successful at the box office, and black writers have been anthologized and canonized right alongside white ones. Though there are still many more miles to travel and much to overcome, this three-volume set considers the multifaceted influence of African Americans on popular culture, and sheds new light on the ways in which African American culture has come to be a fundamental and lasting part of America itself.

To articulate the momentous impact African American popular culture has had upon the fabric of American society, these three volumes provide analyses from academics and experts across the country. They provide the most reliable, accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive treatment of key topics, works, and themes in African American popular culture for a new generation of readers. The scope of the project is vast, including: popular historical movements like the Harlem Renaissance; the legacy of African American comedy; African Americans and the Olympics; African Americans and rock 'n roll; more contemporary articulations such as hip hop culture and black urban cinema; and much more. One goal of the project is to recuperate histories that have been perhaps forgotten or obscured to mainstream audiences and to demonstrate how African Americans are not only integral to American culture, but how they have always been purveyors of popular culture.

Product Description
Her Rite of Passage presents a complete curriculum that shows you what to do to design and carry out a successful African-centered rites program from start to finish. This guidebook will help you: understand the rites of passage process, incorporate African-centered rituals and interactive activities into your program, develop a better understanding of the social and cultural orientation of African-American girls, facilitate weekly rap sessions and plan and organize the initiation retreat and crossover ceremony.

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AN EPIC, EVOCATIVE HISTORY–FROM JAMESTOWN TO THE MILLION MAN MARCH "In her own special, provocative language, Tonya Bolden gives a voice to the voiceless, a name to the nameless. Revelations abound in Strong Men Keep Coming, her singular take on the endless parade of black men who have fought, sung, cajoled, tricked, worked, wrote, or roped their way into the American experience. . . . She has assembled a most rewarding cast, a phenomenal coterie of role models and phantoms, and she has done a splendid job of telling their stories."–Herb Boyd, coeditor Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America "Strong Men Keep Coming is long overdue [and] told in glorious detail.Bolden does an excellent job of obtaining information that’s hard to come by."–Mosaic "Tonya Bolden has assembled an eccentric, eclectic, and highly readable collection of portraits of black male achievers. Bolden blends heartfelt tributes with humorous anecdotes."–Washington Post Book World Spanning four centuries, Strong Men Keep Coming captures the dynamic essence of the black male experience in America, shedding new light on towering icons like Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Malcolm X, while illuminating the lives of numerous forgotten strivers and pioneers.By turns triumphant and tragic, this vital collection brings to life the strength, courage, and tenacity of a truly remarkable brotherhood of men.Amazon.com Review
The quirky, engaging voice of TonyaBolden seems perfectly suited to testify to the tenacious legacyof black men in America; her endearing enthusiasm and deep respect forAfrican American men are irresistible, as clear in her first words asin the finest details of her sketches. "I am the daughter of a blackman in America, granddaughter of black men in America,great-great-granddaughter of black men in America. I am a niece,cousin, sister, aunt--and have been a wife and lover--of black men inAmerica. How can I not want to know about their journey?"

Bolden has taken an idiosyncratic approach in her tribute, but onethat she pulls off with aplomb. Detailing the lives of over a hundredAfrican American men, from the 17th century to the present, Bolden hasmade some expected choices, like Jesse Jackson, A. Philip Randolph,and Frederick Douglass. But she devotes considerable time to ordinarymen, such as a small-town business owner in 1920s Oklahoma and aformer slave who testified before Congress about being terrorized atthe voting booth. Even some of Bolden's omissions, such as PaulRobeson, get their due by default, as we learn about the men whoplayed important roles in their lives; a sketch of Robeson's fatherWilliam Drew tells a more subtle story about the gifted actor andsinger than we might have learned from more direct examination.

Despite Bolden's unusual approach and sometimes erratic choices,Strong Men Keep Coming tells its story well, a tale whose moralis "that despite the bondage, despite the postbellum oppression,despite the wretches and traitors to the race, strong blackmen--thinkers, creators, builders, fighters, givers of goodthings--they have kept and will keep coming." --Paul Hughes ... Read more

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Traces the development of the Baltimore Afro-American, one of America's leading black newspapers, from its founding in 1892 to the dawn of the Civil Rights Era in 1950. It focuses on the Afro-American's coverage of events and issues affecting Baltimore's and the nation's black communities, particularly its crusades for racial reform in the first half of the 20th century. Farrar examines how the Afro-American grew and prospered as a newspaper and as a business. How and why the Afro-American conducted its news and editorial crusades for a powerful local and national black community free of racial disabilities is discussed as well. He also evaluates whether or not the Afro-American succeeded or failed in its racial justice campaigns and to what extent these campaigns made a difference in the local and national black communities' struggle for racial equity. He asserts that the Afro-American was a black middle-class institution that wanted to shape its community according to bourgeois values, but it also broke ground by looking at class issues in the early 20th-century black community. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Review by a family member and employee
This is Farrar's Phd Thesis from VA Tech.The book is about my great grandfather John H. Murphy Sr.He was a former Civil War First Sgt. who fought for his freedom from slavery,serving with Grant & Sherman.With $200 borrowed from his wife,he started the Afro-American Ledger, a merger between two Sunday school teachers.With his five sons, he built the circulation to 200,000 papers a week, nationally and with offices in five cities,Baltimore, Washington, Newark, Richmond and Phila.The campaign led by his son Carl paved the way for Brown vs. Bd. of education. The Afro still publishes today 112 years later inwith offices in Baltimore & DC. This is an excellent book and chronicles the Civil Rights struggle beginning after WWI through the pages of the Afro.A must for the black historian. ... Read more

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Yang skillfully weaves these affecting, often humorous stories together to create a masterful commentary about race, identity, and self-acceptance that has earned him a spot as a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People. The artwork, rendered in a chromatically cool palette, is crisp and clear, with clean white space around center panels that sharply focuses the reader's attention in on Yang's achingly familiar characters. There isn't an adolescent alive who won't be able to relate to Jin's wish to be someone other than who he is, and his gradual realization that there is no better feeling than being comfortable in your own skin.--Jennifer Hubert ... Read more

Customer Reviews (102)

ABC
Excellent. I even changed it to quick mail & they got it done! Thanks! Hen Hao!

I recommend.
The product description was accurate and the product was received in a timely fashion. I definitely recommend.

Warning: Don't Read This Book Alone
I initially rated this work with a one star review, but that was the result of being a 4th generation Chinese American of Cantonese heritage, and actually more sensitive to the stereotypes that are satirized by the Chin-Kee character. I haven't actually queried author Yang about his views but I speculate that he doesn't actually consider himself an American Born Chinese, but rather an American Born Taiwanese and isn't part of the lineage that Chin-Kee is mocking. Nevertheless, I believe Yang's intentions are good and thus I would give it a 3 star review with a couple of caveats.

First, beware of the Law of Unintended Consequences, in this case, the result of using the comic book medium to present ideas. "The Medium is the Massage" by Marshall Mcluhan describes potential consequences of the work perfectly. The comic book, or in this case the graphic novel genre is what would be considered a "cool" medium meaning the visual images provide a high level of stimulus, but the written message has a lower level and requires much more active participation before it is received. This means that American Born Chinese quite possibly has the unintended consequence of perpetuating the very stereotype it wants to conquer, unless an outside influence, a teacher or parent for instance, provides careful guidance to the reader.

Ironically, the most damaging stereotype I find in the book is not Chin-Kee, but rather the character Wei Chen who is revealed to be part of a phenomenon known as Asian Pride, or AP. The AP drives a "tuner" car, and sports all the accoutrements you see in the book. I wish to sidestep over-generalization by saying I've had ample opportunity to observe "AP" young people and suspect they have as much, if not more angst about their racial and cultural heritage which keeps them from reaching their full potential as Americans. Also,the potential for racism can go in both directions as a result.

Regardless of one's opinion, it is undeniable that this is a popular book. My local library has 5 copies. So my only suggestion is that as young people read it, they are given ample opportunity to engage in dialogue to reveal the true messages being conveyed.

Amazing Graphic Novel
"One bright and starry night, the Gods, the Goddesses, the Demons, and the Spirits gathered in Heaven for a dinner party."

This book, told in Graphic Novel format, contains 3 separate tales:

The first tale is the legendary Chinese fable of The Monkey King. The Monkey King was the ruler of all the monkeys on the Flower-Fruit Mountain. When the Gods were having their dinner party, he tried to attend. But because he was a monkey (and didn't wear shoes) he was denied admittance. This changed the Monkey King. He was embarrassed by it, and decided to change himself. He required all monkeys to wear shoes. He studies the 12 disciplines of kung fu to become more than just a monkey. In fact, he transforms himself into a different type of deity all together.

The second tale is about Jin, an American-Born Chinese. His parents immigrated from China and met in college. Jin's mom told him the reason she chose to marry Jin's father. "Of all the PhD. students at the university, he had the thickest glasses. Thick glasses meant long hours of studying. Long Hours of studying meant a strong work ethic. A strong work ethic meant a high salary. A high salary meant a good husband." When Jin is 9, his family moves out of Chinatown, and Jin has to start a new school. Where he is different; the outsider. He suffers from bullies and bouts of embarrassment over his culture.

The final tale is of Danny, the American boy that has a Chinese cousin, named Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee is the epitome of a negative Chinese stereotype. He has buck teeth, a thick accent, and even eats cats. Danny is so embarrassed by Chin-Kee's yearly visits that he has to switch schools every year.

What can be said about this beautiful little book that hasn't already been said?? It truly is a masterpiece. We follow Jin through grade school, where he befriends the student, Wei-Chen, who has just arrived from Taiwan. At first, Jin tries to ignore the other student, but when the two boys start talking about toys (Transformers), they soon become best friends.

The 3 stories eventually come together, all related in a surprisingly beautiful ending. It is basically the story of loving the person that you are. And if you try to change yourself to fit another's persons image of how you "should" be, then you will eventually lose yourself. It sounds deep, and it is. But it is told with a light-hearted humor and really great pictures. Just a small example:

"The only other Asian in my class was Suzy Nakamura. When the class finally figured out that we weren't related, rumors began to circulate that Suzy and I were arranged to be married on her thirteenth birthday. We avoided each other as much as possible."

Not only is this a wonderful tale that highlights the pain of stereotyping and racism, but also teaches a lesson on self-appreciation and self-awareness. An incredibly quick read (I was finished in about an hour), American Born Chinese is absolutely a must-read. Warm, heart-breaking and yet uplifting, this is one book that I can not truly recommend enough. And for anyone that ever says Graphic Novels are just "comic" books, I think you have a lesson waiting for you. A true 5 Star read!!!

An impressive and powerful graphic novel
As a relative newcomer to the graphic novel genre, I'll say upfront that my review probably won't 'cut the mustard' for diehard fans of the genre! That being said, I was blown away by the power and message of this novel. It is a poignant story, one which really opened my eyes to the immigrant experience of someone like the character Jin, who is born in the US but whose parents come from another country. This novel is structured well, and relates to the reader three different (apparently unrelated) vignettes, which eventually intersect in the story's conclusion (in a way that is skillful, rather than cliched). I liked the simplicity of the illustrations, which were vibrant and colorful, but were done in a way that seemed to reflect the written narrative very well. This would be an excellent read for young adults (14 and up, I'd say) and adults alike. I'd recommend this to fellow readers in a heartbeat, both to anyone who already reads graphic novels and enjoys them or to someone who might be looking for their first foray into this diverse genre. "American Born Chinese" made quite an impression on me, and I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
Examines the civil invention of a social problem throughout the 1980s and beyond: "black crime."

This book explores the societal construction of "black-on-black" - referring to the 1980s when violence among African American perpetrators and victims increased. Massive job losses, debased identities, and rampant physical decay made American blacks seem ripe for explosive behavior. Many people blamed black lifestyle, values, and culture. David Wilson shows how America imbued a process of violence with race and accepted it as one of the country's most vexing ills during the Reagan era and afterward. Based on statistics, ethnographies, anecdotal accounts, and national reportage the findings are hard to dispute.

Wilson tells of prominent conservative and liberal writers, reporters and politicians who collectively nurtured this issue, then parlayed it into "truth" in the public mind. Mixing memoirs, critical geographical studies, and race theory, the book shows how vulnerable groups of society can become pawns in an acute process of racial demonization. And how, in America, this allowed blacks to be marginalized. ... Read more

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Asians and Asian-Americans make up 4% of the U.S. population...and 20% of the Ivy League. Now find out how they do it.

The numbers speak for themselves: 18% of Harvard's population; 25% of Columbia's; 42% of Berkeley's; 24% of Stanford's; 25% of Cornell's...

What are Asian parents doing to start their kids on the road to academic excellence at an early age?What can all parents do to help their children ace tests, strive to achieve, and reach educational goals? In this book, two sisters-a doctor and a lawyer whose parents came from South Korea to the U.S. with two hundred dollars in their pockets-reveal the practices that lead Asian-Americans to academic, professional, and personal success.

The authors contend that Asian-Americans are no more intelligent than any other race or ethnic group.They say, "the reason Asian students out-perform their peers in the classroom has nothing to do with how they ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Had some good ideas
I will say that after reading most of the reviews, I decided to give this book a try.One of the things I really liked about this book was that the childrens education was a family thing. If one child was not doing so well in a certain area, they all banded together as a family to help out. Another great thing that was useful is limiting the amount of television your child watches during the week. Although I already incorporate many of the things in my household that the parents used the book is a good tool and I have gained many good ideas to use for my children once they get a bit older.

Poorly written
I would co-sign all of the negative remarks about this book 100...wait...200%!Rather than reiterating what others have said, I will just say that I found it very confusing the way the author would refer to herself in the first and third person.I would have expected better writing, at the very least.

Don't buy this book and don't take their advice.
This book was assigned for extra credit in my Human Motivation class. We had read up on the current research in the field throughout the semester, and we were asked to write a review of this book based on what we learned in the course. After reading the book, I decided it wasn't even worth my effort to write the paper. The parenting advice is bad, arrogant, and has no correlation with research findings. There is no evidence that correct principles are effectively taught to children by spoon-feeding, forcing, structuring their time and making their decisions for them. These are short-term solutions that result in resentment and maladjustment in the long run. And it doesn't help that the authors keep plugging their superior Asian writing skills, in stark contrast with the fact that the book is poorly written and uses the same cliche phrases over and over and over. Also note that neither of the authors ever graduated top of their class, so it is questionnable whether they are entitled to write this book in the first place. The best use I made out of this book was giving it away at a white elephant party, where everyone got a good laugh.

A Misguided Book
Let me present my credentials to review this book.I was born in Korea, and moved to the U.S. with my parents when I was three.I learned to speak English at five.My parents owned a small grocery in a dangerous section of Los Angeles, working seven days a week to make ends meet. I worked in the store after school and studied in the back.My dad earned two masters and a divinity degree in the U.S., and went on to become a Korean-American community leader.I earned two Ivy League degrees, became a U.S. citizen (as did my mom and dad), and now work in middle management for a large corporation.My husband, although a 4th generation American, is one hundred percent Polish by descent.His dad was a contractor, his mom ran an appliance store, and he helped out in the businesses while growing up.He and his sister became attorneys.My husband and I have a son in pre-school.I am convinced that the United States is the greatest country in the history of the world and is truly the land of opportunity.

I do not like this book.

First, success has nothing to do with being Asian.All immigrant groups are largely comprised of people who got up and left their homelands and came to this great country, bringing their get up and go with them.Do-nothings and their progeny tend to stay home.It is a pioneering spirit that leads to success, regardless of ancestry.

Second, the quest for professional degrees is based on a misguided notion of Asian parents.Asian parents want what is best for their children, naturally, and they believe that professional careers such as in medicine and law lead not only to high salaries, but leisurely lifestyles full of golf and tennis.They end up pressuring their kids to have careers in what are really high-pressure jobs with long hours that their kids often don't even enjoy.More and more pressure, more and more stress.

Third, when Asians or anyone else writes about Asians succeeding academically, they often write from a middle and upper class perspective.But not all Asian Americans are in the upper classes, where mothers can afford to stay home to nurture the kids and studies are all that matter.There are pockets of the Asian lower classes in every large city, with gang, drug and other crime-related problems.

There are a few good tips in Top of the Class, and there is nothing wrong with trying to get ahead.But don't forget that happy and meaningful lives are what parents should ultimately wish for their children.Borrowing from the Beatles, "Money can't buy me love."

Excellent book!
I thought this book was SO helpful, and very inspiring.I read it, and am having my 14 year-old daughter read it, because sometimes she will listen to others when she won't listen to her own mom.It is great to hear how two people who succeeded did it; I only wish I'd read the book when my daughter was two. ... Read more

Product Description

From immigration to discrimination and internment, and then to reparations and a high rate of intermarriage, Americans of Japanese descent share a long and sometimes painful history, and now fear their unique culture is being lost. Gil Asakawa's celebration of what makes JAs so special is an entertaining blend of facts and features, of recipes, songs, and memories that every JA will want to share with friends and family. Included are interviews with famous JAs and a look at how it's hip to be Japanese, from manga to martial arts, plus a section on Japantown communities and tips for JA's scrapbooking their families and traveling to Japan to rediscover their roots.

Gil Asakawa is a third-generation Japanese American, author of the weekly "Nikkei View" online column. He lives in Denver.

Customer Reviews (7)

Must read for all Americans
I believe this book is a must read not only for all Japanese Americans but also for all Americans who want to understand the rich Japanese culture beyond nice Lexus cars and sushi - both becoming part of "everyday American life."

couldn't put it down!
Being a JA, I could really relate to the book. I laughed out loud, cried silently, and felt that it explained a lot of things that I was glad to see in writing. I found that I learned from the book. I bought 5 copies for Christmas gifts for my cousins in hope that they will enjoy it as much as I did. I think Sanseis would relate to it more than others, but I don't know that for sure. I'm just very glad that it was written.

Very Enjoyable!
I quite liked Mr. Asakawa's book.It is funny, charming, and informative in a non-stereotypical way.If you are part JA, it is essential.If you are interested in multiracial identity and Japanese American identity I would recommend it for your library.

Nice book for Hapas!
I'm hapa and I got this for my little sister who is 13.She really really likes it.There's not a lot of stuff out there for hapas so I really appreciate this book!.Why can't there by more books like this out there for us???

I am Japanese American...
A fresh perspective on Japanese American culture with voices from multiple generations as well as mixed ethnicities (more realistic of America today!). The author moves towards why JAs are both Japanese and American and neither all at the same time. An excellent resource for anyone interested in AsianAmerican cultures as well as a superb guide for chronicling one's own family history. ... Read more