Reviews with content warning for Racism - You Are Here: Connecting Flights

Emotionally charged stories all dealing with anti-Asian racism and xenophobia, and the struggle to speak up against them. Except for the last story, and eventually one of the TSA agents from the first one, virtually every white character is racist in varying degrees, from downright white supremacist to blissfully ignorant yet still with a hint of obnoxiousness. Yes, that even includes white friends and family members. And what’s really upsetting is that the majority of these racists are adults, and they’re harassing kids.

AJ’s was different because the xenophobia—specifically sinophobia—was coming from his obnoxious Filipino teammates (and unfortunately, Ribay’s description of them is something I know all too well 😬🫣). Not only that, they were being classist towards his friend Saul, making fun of his lack of money (another thing I’m also familiar with). While I was glad Ribay brought up the fraught relationship between China and the Philippines, I wish he went into it more. In fact, I wish the stories also mentioned the tense relationships between East and Southeast Asians, because that totally is a thing sadly, on top of dealing with anti-Asian hate.

Henry’s story was the most touching for me. I loved his tender relationship with his dad James, who like him was autistic. Also like how he used his aikido to make some punk look bad.

It’s only fitting that Ellen Oh finishes this anthology with Soojin’s story. Seeing Oh’s never-back-down stance from Twitter, Soojin was definitely like her author, and of course when one person speaks up, everyone will.

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library_kb's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is another great example of a middle grade anthology. I listened to this one via @Libro.fm's ALC program for educators. Each short story follows a middle schooler as they navigate O'Hare airport during a summer storm which causes flight delays. As tensions rise, they face their own individual conflicts but many of them also face microaggressions and outright racism. The stories reference each other in small details which are fun to make connections with. Recommend for upper elementary and middle school!

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bruhnette's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Big thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books, Allida, NetGalley, and Libro FM's Educator ALC program for advanced digital and audio copies of this book.

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pagingmrsvarnum's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

You are Here: Connecting Flights is a collection of twelve interwoven stories of Asian-American kids going through the Chicago airport on the same day. Each of these stories is written by a different author, and it is so impressive to see how seamlessly they blend together while still telling very individual stories from distinctly different points of view.

There is so much to love about this book. The representation of Asian-Americans is only the beginning. It depicts racist remarks and behavior that kids and adults experience every day - but the stories take this awareness a step further by empowering readers with methods to stand up for themselves and others. This book shows very real strategies to make change when faced with racism that kids can use in their own lives, whether they are being targeted or seeing someone else being targeted. It shows how broad the term “Asian-American” is, with each protagonist living very different lives with different backgrounds in diverse families.

Kids are a lot smarter than many adults give them credit for, and they do not like being preached to. This book recognizes that and allows readers to draw their own conclusions based on the fast-paced story. Readers are invited into the action, and the message is so much more powerful as a result.

I will absolutely be purchasing this book for my home and school library, and I’ve already recommended it to several friends and family members. This would also make a great classroom read aloud and would spark some great discussion! Grades 3+

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this Advanced Reader’s Edition!

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xangemthelibrarian's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This interwoven short story collection featuring a full Asian American cast navigating a Chicago airport is the best book I have read this year. I know there is a LOT of year left, but I'm serious: YOU ARE HERE has set a very high bar for my Favorites of 2023 list.

Reading about the microaggressions and outright racist way people in the airport treated LITERAL CHILDREN is absolutely painful to read. It hurts even more to know that the editor, Ellen Oh, asked the contributing authors to reach into their own passions and experiences. But all that pain is balanced by the sheer hope and resolve of each character in this story.

They are going to change the world. They are choosing to believe in the good. And they are going to stand up for what's right and make everyone realize that they are Americans too. And THEY ARE HERE.

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starklinqs's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Overall I really enjoyed this book - I had checked it out because I loved Ellen Oh’s book Spirit Hunters, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a diverse range of Asian American authors worked on it, not just her! These stories were short and great - I think the only one that didn’t really hit for me was AJ’s story, unfortunately. Some of these stories could feel a bit “90s PSA” but only faintly, and it’s obviously for a middle school demographic so I didn’t quite mind. However, AJ’s felt very blatant and forced, almost like the author was trying too hard to talk like a Gen Z kid. The other stories were great though, and I really appreciated how they interconnected! There’s definitely some characters in here who I would have loved to follow along with longer.

I also do wish that we could have seen the perspective of a South Asian character/author, however. I don’t fault the authors for this - I’m sure this is based on availability and they very much specifically mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic, which is going to affect East and Southeast Asians, not South Asians. But I was hoping for a South Asian story as well, especially with this centering on Asian Americans in an airport. Not every Asian centered story needs to focus each and every single part of the diaspora, but I couldn’t help but feel there was a missed opportunity with this setting - though again, they probably wanted to focus on COVID and the reactions and racism uniquely faced by a part of Asian Americans, which is completely fair!

This was a great book and I think will be wonderful for its target demographic - and probably older; I certainly still enjoyed it and the authors did a great job.

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