minheeshock 's review for:

No-No Boy by John Okada

5.0

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This book was slow for me and then gained momentum about 1/2 of the way through to create a powerful and surprising exploration of American identity, as it intersects with race and power. It struck me how unique the voice of the book is - it’s not written as an explainer for white America about the aftermath of internment. In fact, it deals very little with internment specifically. Instead it’s an examination of Asian American psyche and identity, with internment and the main character’s imprisonment as context and substitute for many power dynamics that exist to this day.