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eniam 's review for:
Rolling the R's
by R. Zamora Linmark
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Except for the Bishop Museum and the Planetarium, Kalihi is not listed in Places To Visit In Oahu.
"Everytime I pass by all those tourists waitin' fo go inside Bishop Museum," Katrina says, "I like break their line and tell 'em, 'Eh, you guys blind or what? When come to old and dead stuffs, your eyes bulge out, but when come to me, you guys pretend for be blind.'"
"Cuz to them, you invisible," Edgar says. "But to you, they not." (page 106)
Writing this from a perspective of a Filipina immigrant child who grew up in Kalihi, where this book takes place. I also write this as a scholar whose research focus is on Filipino identity and culture in Hawaiʻi. (Context: Kalihi is a neighborhood district in urban Honolulu that's home to the most public housing in Hawaiʻi. It is also home to many Indigenous Native Hawaiians and Asian + Pacific immigrant groups)
What I enjoyed most about this book were vignettes of everyday Kalihi youth life in the 1970s--stores that no longer exist at Kam Shopping Center, the #7 bus used to be a green bus with no AC, and so on... Because of its portrayal of everyday youth life in Kalihi, I felt seen. Although I, myself, do not speak fluent Pidgin, I felt happy to see representation of it in writing.
There's sooooo much sex in this book, which could be difficult to stomach knowing that the main characters of the book were 10-/11-year-old children, girls and queer boys. Sometimes, I could not figure out if some accounts were actual events that happened, or if they were daydreams by the characters (it might have been written that way on purpose). There are descriptions of sexual abuse against women and pedophilia. Examples:
As an Ethnic Studies scholar, my concern is the sexualization of Filipino men (as sexual predators) and Filipina women (as sexually 'easy' or 'lose') that gets perpetuated in local culture/jokes that actively harms the community, which is why generations of Hawaiʻi Filipinos grew up in racial shame. The author is also a queer Filipino man who grew up in Kalihi in the 1970s.
Though, I do not advocate for ultimately avoiding this conversation of sexual abuse within the community. Within the community today, there is a push for "good" representation to uplift ourselves from decades of racial shame. But this makes me question: what is "good" representation? Being sexually conservative? Being elite, upper class, educated professional? Assimilation to American culture? The focus on these types of "good" representation erases the experiences of people who are marginalized within systems of oppression. Rolling the R's challenged what it means to speak about experiences that does not try to appease to model minority narratives, even if the subject matter is painful and shameful. Rolling the R's lays out the mess and demands to be seen, not to be ran away from.
Other notes on the book:
- The writing is so playful. Sometimes the children's banter with each other or when they challenge authority, it got me giggling.
- There would be a chapter where I'd be laughing my ass off and the very next chapter is dark and heavy.
- Stylistically, I enjoyed it. Each chapter differed from the previous one. Styles included monologues, third-person narrative, an essay prompt with an essay answer, an answered test exam, a poem, progress report with teacher comments, etc...
- The timeline is kind of vague, too, and might not be linear.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia