This Advance Reader Copy of the book is courtesy of NetGalley and the book’s publishers. I am not receiving any financial or additional benefit from either group for posting this review other than the opportunity to read this book before it’s released publicly.
FYI: Some book links may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you click through them and purchase an item. This has no influence on my book reviews and this disclaimer serves to comply with the FTC’s disclosure rules.
tl;dr Review:
A fairly good book with an important perspective on the current US immigration debate.
Full Review:
The hilarious, poignant, and true story of one teen’s experience growing up in America as an undocumented immigrant from the Middle East, perfect for fans of Mindy Kaling and Lena Dunham’s books.
At thirteen, bright-eyed, straight-A student Sara Saedi uncovered a terrible family secret: she was breaking the law simply by living in the United States. Only two years old when her parents fled Iran, she didn’t learn of her undocumented status until her older sister wanted to apply for an after-school job, but couldn’t because she didn’t have a Social Security number. Fear of deportation kept Sara up at night, but it didn’t keep her from being a teenager. She desperately wanted a green card, along with clear skin, her own car, and a boyfriend.
Americanized follows Sara’s progress toward getting her green card, but that’s only a portion of her experiences as an Iranian-“American” teenager. From discovering that her parents secretly divorced to facilitate her mother’s green card application to learning how to tame her unibrow, Sara pivots gracefully from the terrifying prospect that she might be kicked out of the country at any time to the almost-as-terrifying possibility that she might be the only one of her friends without a date to the prom. This moving, often hilarious story is for anyone who has ever shared either fear.
Part of the reason that I really wanted to love it is that I’m a passionate advocate for immigrants and refugees.
However, there were parts of it that felt overly contrived and other parts that didn’t feel like they contributed to the overall story.
Honestly, none of this really matters when it comes to a memoir because it’s the author’s own voice and thoughts about his or her life. I trust that Sara Saedi really felt what she described in her book. Yet some of the descriptions felt very “on” if you know what I mean. In the same way that people can be “on” when they are in front of certain authority figures or if there is a TV camera present, that’s how these parts felt to me.
Part of enjoying a memoir is that you get to creep into someone’s head and live out their lives with them. But these “on” moments felt like you were a completely outside observer and that she was telling you what was going on versus you feeling it with her.
I definitely appreciated the inclusion of the history on America’s treatment of Iran and the Middle East, as well as the US foreign policy jabs towards the current administration (of which I couldn’t agree with Sara more). So suffice it to say that this book wasn’t a total fail.
Like I said above – I overall enjoyed it and felt like it was a good read, but the moment’s of being too “on” is what put me off.
If you’re looking for a quick read that shares a teen’s immigration journey complicated by US foreign policy in Iran, then you may enjoy this.
Overall, I give it 3.5 out of 5 thumbs up.
