A review by crafalsk264
Local: A Memoir by Jessica Machado

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

He memoir covers the author’s life from childhood growing from birth through the death of both of her parents. It is primarily a review of her life as a minority Hawaiian ethnicity appears to have a number of subsets for characterize their residents. For example, Kanaka is a full blooded Hawaiian regardless; a native Hawaiian may be less than full blooded; Haole is white people or people from off island and Local describes all other individuals. The title of the memoir, “Local” not only describes the author’s residence but identifies her as a member of a particular socio economic group. This opens up her personal assessment to include racism as one of the influences.

After she finishes school, she makes the decision to relocate to California to get away from this classification. However, she has only limited success in putting her life behind her. Her most successful intervention was her mother’s illness and death followed by her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and death. I admire the author’s honesty and willingness to make her personal assessment public in this way. Recommend to readers of memoirs, autobiographies, adolescence, racism and Hawaii.