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katzmetz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
If you read the title and it makes you feel in some way negative, read it anyway.
taygivs's review against another edition
4.0
When I first heard of this nonfic. exploration of identity from a WOC in a society (academia and beyond) built on whiteness, I knew that I had to read it. My friends and I talk frequently about what it's like to be a first gen. WOC in academic and let me just tell you, IT IS HARD. From the daily microaggressions to being asked to be the voice of all black/latinx/etc. people. It's real. This is one of the first times i've seen such a nuanced response to this experience.
Bonus because, like me, the author is a Nebraskan. ❤️
Bonus because, like me, the author is a Nebraskan. ❤️
jentidders's review against another edition
3.0
Jennine Capó Crucet is a writer, a professor, and the first-generation American daughter of Cuban refugees. In this excellent and thought-provoking essay collection, she takes a critical look at the experience of being Latinx in a world centred on whiteness.
Covering her arrival at Cornell University and what it cost (financially and emotionally) for her family to get her there, a love of Disney World whilst being conscious of the ways in which it is problematic, a stay at a Nebraskan ranch, and her father's emotional disconnection from her family even in ill health, Crucet examines the ways the political and personal intersect, and the impact of the immigrant experience identity.
Covering her arrival at Cornell University and what it cost (financially and emotionally) for her family to get her there, a love of Disney World whilst being conscious of the ways in which it is problematic, a stay at a Nebraskan ranch, and her father's emotional disconnection from her family even in ill health, Crucet examines the ways the political and personal intersect, and the impact of the immigrant experience identity.
honeydewfelon's review against another edition
5.0
I was an instant fan of Cap Crucet's after reading her short story collection "How to Leave Hialeah." I was already planning on reading her newest collection of essays, but a video of some white college students burning the book and calling her "racist" made me instantly go out buy a copy. The collection is funny, sharp, and honest. By far, the best essay in this collection is "Magic Kingdoms," about Disney, fantasy, and Floridian/Cuban-American identity. While I prefer Capo Crucet's fiction, her nonfiction is well worth the read.
knick_nat's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I don’t think I’m the audience for this book, I think the target audience is white people tbh but I still could enjoy some of the messages. I appreciate that she acknowledges her ability to pass and acknowledges that Cubans are a form of white in their own right. I’m not taking away their latinidad by saying that either. I resonated with more things towards the end and highlighted a couple things during her talk at the school where the white form tried to argue reverse racism. That was a good essay.
samnopal's review against another edition
4.0
The moment that stuck with me the most after reading this story of a Cuban-American, first generation College attendee, was her comment about white passing. "In passing, I was trespassing on moments normally reserved for white supremacy." While I think her point may be exaggerated a bit, there's many *many* efforts to erase her status in negative review for this book on Goodreads. "But she's white!" as if her experience growing up as an immigrant dealing with the ignorance of society aimed at her parents, her siblings, herself, is invalidated by her white passing.
Jennine offers a compelling look at the challenge that first generation college attendees face when they decide to go to Ivy Leagues, private schools, or any institution that is oriented to protect and project whiteness.
Jennine offers a compelling look at the challenge that first generation college attendees face when they decide to go to Ivy Leagues, private schools, or any institution that is oriented to protect and project whiteness.
lizlikesfrogs's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75