Bui’s story is a tribute to her family that came before her, and the new family she created. With more graphics than words, Bui’s memoir is one that will resonate with anyone who has a family and who has experienced disconnect, loss, miscommunication, heartbreak, and love. That Bui learned how to draw in order to tell her story already makes the book a compelling read. Themes include the Vietnam War, the refugee experience, resettlement, generational conflicts, gender issues, family, birth, and home make this book one that crosses disciplines. This book was chosen as San Francisco’s ‘One City One Book’ in 2018. Bui attended an event at the SF Public library and other events hosted those who had experienced the Vietnam War, refugees, and community members. Bui is a Bay Area author/professor and could perhaps come to SJSU. The book was just released in paperback this fall. The text and fairly simple drawings are moving and engaging; this is a must read for anyone!
I think this is a beautiful piece of literature and that students will really like reading a graphic novel. That said, this is a very adult story. The very first chapter is about the author’s struggles in labor with her son. The story is about parents and their children and while I learned so much from it, I fear that younger students will have a hard time connecting with the author who is building the story of her parents in the context of her also being a parent. Worthy of discussion as an option, but I have some reservations about whether it would be the best CRP book. – Madalyn
I read this graphic memoir about a year ago, but I remember it was really striking and powerful. I think it would be a fantastic common read (e.g., other universities such as UCLA have used it). The author tells the story of Vietnamese refugee experiences of escape and resettlement through her own family’s narrative. This topic is still relatively invisible in the larger discourse on Asian American communities and would make for an important exploration of immigration issues. The topic may also resonate well given our local and campus demographics. The author is local to the Bay Area, which may help facilitate a campus visit. The content would fit in with broader discussions of immigration, immigrant incorporation, intergenerational relationships, human rights, war, and refugee status/experiences.
The Best We Could Do is a moving book about immigration presented in a unique graphic novel format. I found the illustrations poignant, and the story moving, but the format was distracting for me. Students may like the illustrations and the ability to use their imaginations to fill in the words that the pictures replace.
Many of our current students have little knowledge of our large Vietnamese community and how they came to San Jose. This story shows immigration from the perspective of people fleeing for their lives, not just looking for a better job and more money. The different imperative frames the journey and the struggle in a different context than today’s border crossers. I think it would educate our new students, and probably appeal more than a lengthy word-based book…but for myself I miss the prose descriptions.
I think that The Best We Could Do is the most likely to grab the attention of the student readers. You can just look at the pictures, and even skip pages, and still get a lot of value from the book. I think it would generate a lot of comments from students, and could lead to a good discussion of immigration then and now, different motivations for immigration, different cultural norms that effect immigrants and their American experience.
Bui’s story is a tribute to her family that came before her, and the new family she created. With more graphics than words, Bui’s memoir is one that will resonate with anyone who has a family and who has experienced disconnect, loss, miscommunication, heartbreak, and love. That Bui learned how to draw in order to tell her story already makes the book a compelling read. Themes include the Vietnam War, the refugee experience, resettlement, generational conflicts, gender issues, family, birth, and home make this book one that crosses disciplines. This book was chosen as San Francisco’s ‘One City One Book’ in 2018. Bui attended an event at the SF Public library and other events hosted those who had experienced the Vietnam War, refugees, and community members. Bui is a Bay Area author/professor and could perhaps come to SJSU. The book was just released in paperback this fall. The text and fairly simple drawings are moving and engaging; this is a must read for anyone!
I think this is a beautiful piece of literature and that students will really like reading a graphic novel. That said, this is a very adult story. The very first chapter is about the author’s struggles in labor with her son. The story is about parents and their children and while I learned so much from it, I fear that younger students will have a hard time connecting with the author who is building the story of her parents in the context of her also being a parent. Worthy of discussion as an option, but I have some reservations about whether it would be the best CRP book. – Madalyn
I read this graphic memoir about a year ago, but I remember it was really striking and powerful. I think it would be a fantastic common read (e.g., other universities such as UCLA have used it). The author tells the story of Vietnamese refugee experiences of escape and resettlement through her own family’s narrative. This topic is still relatively invisible in the larger discourse on Asian American communities and would make for an important exploration of immigration issues. The topic may also resonate well given our local and campus demographics. The author is local to the Bay Area, which may help facilitate a campus visit. The content would fit in with broader discussions of immigration, immigrant incorporation, intergenerational relationships, human rights, war, and refugee status/experiences.
The Best We Could Do is a moving book about immigration presented in a unique graphic novel format. I found the illustrations poignant, and the story moving, but the format was distracting for me. Students may like the illustrations and the ability to use their imaginations to fill in the words that the pictures replace.
Many of our current students have little knowledge of our large Vietnamese community and how they came to San Jose. This story shows immigration from the perspective of people fleeing for their lives, not just looking for a better job and more money. The different imperative frames the journey and the struggle in a different context than today’s border crossers. I think it would educate our new students, and probably appeal more than a lengthy word-based book…but for myself I miss the prose descriptions.
I think that The Best We Could Do is the most likely to grab the attention of the student readers. You can just look at the pictures, and even skip pages, and still get a lot of value from the book. I think it would generate a lot of comments from students, and could lead to a good discussion of immigration then and now, different motivations for immigration, different cultural norms that effect immigrants and their American experience.