KINDA KOREAN

Sung’s memoir follows a second-generation Korean-American woman through her childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood as she encounters racism and discrimination.

As the book begins, the author, a high school teacher, navigates her students’ questions about Asian American discrimination and its exacerbation by the Covid-19 pandemic. In smaller stories tied to various themes, the narrative tracks Sung through her 1990s childhood and into her young and middle adulthood as she attends college, joins the United States Air Force, marries a Caucasian man, and has her first child. Much of the work focuses upon the tumultuous relationship between herself and her first-generation mother, and on a fragmented sense of self that was built upon the notion that she was not fully Korean or American—or a beloved boy. (The author reflects, “Boys will always be treasured, while girls will be treated like time bombs of pregnancy and stupid mistakes.”) Sung’s account simultaneously illustrates the harsh realities of racism that she endured as a girl as well as her experiences as a parent raising a biracial child. She also aims to come to terms with her parents’ perspectives, which she resented as a child and only came to understand as an adult teaching and speaking to others about Asian American identity. In this remarkable memoir, the author effectively conveys what it’s like to lack a sense of belonging regarding her Korean and American heritages. Sung discusses failing to live up to expectations based on her background and the ways in which such attitudes and beliefs affected her behavior and her sense of self as a woman. The author also explores the complex interpersonal dynamics of prejudice and discrimination, highlighting the disturbing ways in which children can be taught to perceive their own identities and those of others. Although there are moments when the placement of an anecdote—such as a story about Sung’s mother’s failure to tell her daughter that her beloved cat had died—blunts its intended impact, this is a moving chronicle that shows strength, growth, and reflection.

An illuminating account of a woman coming to terms with her own identity.