Not Here to Be Liked

Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach is a high school struggle to balance being yourself and still get what you want.

Eliza Quan is the managing editor of her high school paper. Each year there is a staff election to pick the Editor in Chief. Eliza is sure she is going to be chosen as she is the most qualified and the only one running.

But when she gets to the election, Len a boy who usually sits in the corner and does not get involved other than to turn in articles about sports, announces he is running too. 

It turns out that while the staff respects Eliza, they like Len better. 

When Eliza writes an op ed about her loss, feminism, and why he was the wrong choice - an article that was never meant to be published but someone finds and post it - a wave of protests spread through the school.

Quach has written a compelling story that contains many important issued not often covered in YA. Great read.

Quach, Michelle. (2021). Not Here to Be Liked. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.

The Best We Could Do

The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui is a beautifully told story of her family history.

This is the story of a Vietnamese family from generations before the American war, to living in the United States to raise the next generation. 

Beginning with the birth of her first child - the first drawing is a very pregnant belly - Thi looks back at her family and their history as she takes on the role of teacher for the next generation. 

The history of Vietnam from colonization, war, politics to her family in a refugee camp and emigrating to the US, this is a beautifully told story of hardship and choices for a better life. 

This is an example of why immigration is beneficial to both the people leaving to start again, and the nation that receives their knowledge and different way of looking at things. Immigration makes a country stronger.

Bui, Thi. (2017). The Best We Could Do. New York: Abrams.

On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous

On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong is a beautiful memoir of a Vietnamese American man finding his way in two cultures, caught between two worlds - one at home and one outside of the home.

When he is small, his mother and grandmother move him to the US, to Harford, Connecticut. His father was an American soldier he has not met. He is called Little Dog in the Vietnamese custom of not praising a good looking child and possibly calling trouble.

His mother and grandmother work hard to make sure he can have a good, American life. His story is largely about the relationship between him and them.

Each sentence packs a punch by this poet author. Covering many real topics throughout the story including race, class, masculinity, sexuality, addiction, violence and trauma, and first love. This is powerful storytelling that also about how to tell stories.

Read this beautiful, difficult story.

Vuong, Ocean. (2019). On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous. New York: Penguin Press.