WebQian Julie Wang is the New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country: A Memoir of an Undocumented Childhood, which was named a best book of 2021 by the New York Books are my constant friend. I always loved books but after we moved, they took on the role of family. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and Angelas Ashes by Frank McCourt really inspired me to write my book. You were only 7 when you arrived in the US and you recall the events with amazing clarity. I was afraid they cascade over me. So letting that child in me feel those feelings for the first time, there was huge sense of closure and healing. Ingoing back I came to appreciate how incredible children are, how special that time is and what innate resilience we all have as kids. So I walked into my judge's office and just kind of sat down and spilled everything. Without a doubt, it has been the Jews of Color community. Start earning points for buying books! You're afraid to go to a hospital, aren't you? I'd gotten to a point where I was a lawyer and was fairly accomplished, but I was still not honest about who I had been. And we were too terrified to find a doctor. Then, going into the election and hearing all the discourse, I felt something fundamentally change within me, where I recognized for the first time that I had a profound privilege to be on the other side of the experience and that I was choosing not to think about it and not to speak about it. Soon, she was spending Thank you so much But it bears stating that one cannot in good conscience stand for everything Swarthmore does while generating the waste I watched its student body, myself included, create in abundance. Has your family read "Beautiful Country"? as a gift from my beloved third grade teacher. There is universality in humanity and in the childhood experience in particular. There were many immigrants from South China, and most everyone spoke Cantonese or Fujianese. I lived and breathed books. Thats how I learnt Englishbut nobody in literature looked like me , Channel thatempathy into youreveryday life. For me growing up, the library was my second home. Those subway snippets would become "Beautiful Country," a gorgeous and heartfelt tale of Wang's childhood as an undocumented New Yorker, published Tuesday. That required a lot of intensive therapy, unearthing traumas and memories that I had shoved into the basement of my mind and of my heart. I think it is easy to forget as adults how very difficult and terrifying it is to be a child navigating the world. Verified. It marked the one time I did not dare return for seconds. And my mother sat down in the back row, which was the least-paying row, and she started attaching labels to the back of shirts and dresses for three cents per article of clothing. Both of these names are integral parts of me, and I can no more choose between them than I can between my left and right legs. As such, our group's mission is first and foremost to build a safe space for Jews of Color to connect and engage in their religion - shelter for when we feel utterly unwanted in all other Jewish spaces. It made my whole year. It wasn't until the discourse of the 2016 election, which took place just six months after I became a naturalized U.S. citizen, that I discovered that I had a newfound power and thus responsibility to share my story, that at that juncture of my life, I was making an actual decision to stay quiet - a privilege that millions of undocumented immigrants do not have. What were some influential books for you growing up? Qian Julie Wang, who is a Yale Law graduate, now an attorney, has written a memoir, "Beautiful Country." By clicking Subscribe, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to PenguinRandomHouses, certain categories of personal information, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information. Scott Simon speaks with author Qian Julie Wang about her new memoir, "Beautiful Country," which details her life growing up as an immigrant in New York City. The Best Books to Get Your Finances in Order, Books Based on Your Favorite Taylor Swift Era, Cook a Soul Food Holiday Meal With Rosie Mayes. Nor would it be true to the beating heart of the Swarthmore we love. Could you share why you chose your name and the meaning it has in your life? QJW: Its deeply problematic to me when people try to frame my story as the American dream because there were profound privileges that I came into these years of being undocumented with, with the primary privilege being that my parents were able to get a good education in China, however you may define it. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. MEDIA KIT| But I guess when youre not carrying the trauma of never having had the chance to really play, you actually get to play for your entire life because it just comes out. WANG: Immediately upon arriving here, I noticed that my parents were incredibly nervous. Even with this rule though, there were months (and up to nearly a year) when I just had to take time off writing entirely. We loved this extraordinary debut about life as an undocumented immigrant told through the eyes of a seven year old girl. I read and re-read it while editing my book, and it opened my eyes to all of the ways in which growing up under white supremacy had shaped how I viewed myself, and how I invalidated the extremely valid feelings that decades of racialized misogyny had engendered in me. This is certainly not unusual for freshmen, but in my case, it was for atypical reasons. I regret that the publication of my book might have awakened that sense of trauma in him, and I badly want to shield him from it. You were thrown into a school. She recalls their experience, with a childs frankness and naivety, which is really what makes this book stand out. Thank you so much for being with us. What were some influential books for you growing up?, In my book, I share my story about receiving my copy of "Charlotte's Web" (which I still have!) My teacher spoke only Cantonese or English, neither of which I spoke. From then on, I experienced a different Sharples. I observed the disdain with which my classmates surveyed the offerings. QIAN JULIE WANG: Thank you so much for having me, Scott. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Giver.. You do pranks. In my book, I share my story about receiving my copy of Charlottes Web (which I still have!) As we approach the Jewish New Year, any Rosh Hashanah plans you are looking forward to? It was there that I never had to question whether or not I belonged. But there are so many other titles that brought vibrancy to my childhood years: every single installment of "The Baby-Sitter's Club," the "Sweet Valley Twins" series, "The Diary of Anne Frank," "Where the Red Fern Grows," "Number the Stars," "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH," "The Giver.". American Judaism is Ashkenazi-centric, even though, historically and globally, Judaism is far more diverse. I was just playing with things, and I didnt really have that concept of work yet. First, it is the day my book comes out. WebQian Julie Wang is the author and subject of the memoir. And over the years, she made her way through some worse and some slightly better jobs, including processing salmon at a sushi plant, where she stood in ice water for 12 hours at a time. Qian Julie Wangs debut memoir Beautiful Country is a compelling and intimate portrait of an undocumented childhood. Kathryn Monaco:Thank you for sharing your story! For a few magical minutes, I dont even care that I didnt have a real childhood, however you want to define it, because to be children with your parents right there is just so rare. The book is only the first chapter of your life, you cover moving to Canada and getting your legal documents quickly in the last chapter. Please try again later. Do I want to go down this path, which is just following the momentum of what Id done with my adult life, or do I want to listen to little Qian and do what she would want me to do? The story of Qian Julie Wang, as she explains, begins before she was born. But I had to think about making an income, and law seemed like a way that I could use storytelling to make a difference in peoples lives and still make sure I could pay off my loans. What do you hope readers take away from Beautiful Country? For most of my life, I told myself that I was just oversensitive, that I read too much into thingseven though chink was among the first English words I learned, even though I had never been in a public space in America without fearing for my bodily safety. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. Required fields are marked *. 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And it was there, really, that I discovered that I, myself, could learn English just through books. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. My parents would have a heart attack if I wrote another memoir right away! A recent book would be Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hongwhich was the first book that I read that tackled face-on the dynamic of being an Asian American woman and the racism you deal with on a daily basis. The first time I entered Sharples, I wandered from food station to food station with suspended breath. When shes not writing incredible memoirs, Wang is a litigator working as the managing partner of Gottlieb & Wang LLP a firm dedicated to advocating for education and disability rights. SIMON: Let me ask you about the time your mother falls ill and it kind of underscored a lot of the fear in which you had to live because when you're undocumented - well, you tell us. And then, of course, there was his childhood, which was horrific. By virtue of being Asian is just - I was just seen as being weak. In many ways, "Beautiful Country" issuch an American story. That myopic focus in the U.S. tends to result in Jewish spaces that feel deeply unwelcoming, and often even overtly hostile, to Jews of Color. SIMON: Your parents were academic professionals in China, but what did they do to get by in the U.S.? An Inside Look at Beautiful Country Author Qian Julie Wangs Bookish Wedding. Your email address will not be published. Reading Qian Julie Wangs debut memoir, Beautiful Country, you wouldnt know its her first book. As a child who felt lonely and lost most of the time, the Chatham Square public library branch in Chinatown was my anchor in my American life. My book is a celebration of childhood, that wondrous time when we were all still so tender and open. KM: What is a book that youve read during the pandemic that has given you hope? It was there that I never had to question whether or not I belonged. We are not a monolith by any means, but the unity of intersectionality is a beautiful thing. The waste I witnessed at Sharples threw into relief the hunger painted on the faces of the homeless lining the streets of Philadelphia, where I worked several part-time jobs. It became her second home, a place of safety. Id always dreamed about writing this book. If youre doing a pro bono immigration case, and youre telling your client, You have this right. I wrote the first draft of the book while making partner. She responded with such empathy and understanding. How did they react to the book? This is absolutely what I was meant to do. By the time of my wedding in 2019, Id uncovered a sense of fashion that, for the first time, gave me home in my body. What does it mean to you that other young Chinese kids will be able to read your story now? If you have any questions, you can email OnLine@Ingrams.com, or call 816.268.6402. ONLY LANDING IN YOUR INBOX ON THURSDAY MORNINGS AT 11AM. Librarians are our unsung, modern-day heroes. WANG: My father, I think, would've been very different if we had stayed in China. It was my biggest and wildest ambition to write a book that might allow others out there to see themselves reflected in literature, and have them know that it is possible to survive similar circumstances. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. It was the thing that commanded me to binge whenever I came upon a buffet, that whispered that the only way to stave off the hunger of my past was to eat all of the free food that ever came before me. When 2016 election happened it jolted me awake. There is universality in humanity and in the childhood experience in particular. Shifting focus, can you tell us about your work with your Jews of Color group? WANG: Yeah, when we got here, I remember the first thing we realized - that even though there were Chinese people around us in Chinatown, we were of a different kind of Chinese. WANG: It really happened during my second clerkship, when I was clerking on the 9th Circuit. Wang, 32, is known as Julie. You do fart jokes. Everything thats super-immature, we do. She is a commercial litigation associate in the New York office of Robins Kaplan, a law firm. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. She graduated from Swarthmore and received a law When she's not writing incredible memoirs, Wang is a litigator working as the managing partner of Gottlieb & Wang LLP - a firm dedicated to advocating for education and disability rights. Its the story of her childhood. Judaism is the religion of the enslaved, the uprooted, the marginalized, and the other, and we are dedicated to making sure that its American community lives up to its roots. When I discovered Judaism, I finally felt complete. The Books Alexis Patterson Is Loving Right Now, Amazing Childrens Books by Arab and Arab American Authors, Browse All Our Lists, Essays, and Interviews. To redeem, copy and paste the code during the checkout process. What inspired you to share your tale of being an undocumented child?. When I quit, I was terrified, but every day that has passed since, I dont know how I ever questioned that choice. But from kind of my first days here, he told me, I no longer have status as a man. Most of all, though, I am really looking forward to getting together with family at the seder. There was probably no better way to discover kindred spirits with whom I share my passion for activism, racial justice, immigrants' rights and spirituality. Shalom, Shana Tova & Gmar Hatima Tova, My first year at Swarthmore in 2005, I gained 20 pounds. Minor Feelings gave me the permission I didnt know I needed, and it helped me dig up more of my voice, my compassionand in the wake of anti-Asian hate and Atlanta, this is a change Ive seen in not just myself but younger Asian Americans across the nation. After that, I thrust myself into writing. How did they react? SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER TO STAY IN-THE-NOW. I just assumed everyone was like that.
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