Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

genre: graphic memoir

Growing up as the child of a single mom in South Korea, Robin's life wasn't perfect but it comfortable and full of things she enjoyed - most especially, art and comic books.  When a vacation to the states results in Robin beginning the school year in Alabama, her world is turned completely upside down.   Life is challenging both at home and at school, for a girl who doesn't speak the language and cannot figure out where she belongs.  Her coming-of-age as a fish out of water who slowly finds her people is a painful but powerful testament to the human spirit and the way that common interests can help us cross all boundaries.

I really enjoyed this.  The art is incredibly well done and I liked how easily my brain learned to switch from knowing who was speaking in Korean and who was speaking in English.  I appreciated Robin's journey as an immigrant and as a regular teenager, struggling with feeling alone displaced.  The mother-daughter relationship was so familiar, so spot on to the push and pull of that connection.  This is such an important work, both for helping teens appreciate what their immigrant friends may be feeling, but also helping those in a similar situation who might feel isolated that there is hope for the future.