America Like Me: Post 1

The book I chose was American Like Me by America Ferrera, a collection of essays written by first generation Americans. I chose this book because Professor Hansen said this book has been the most popular option among students. Another reason is that the chapters are independent of each other. As someone who has not finished a book cover to cover in two years, I felt that this book would be an easier transition back into reading. This has proven to be true thus far, I find myself picking out and reading a few chapters in my free time without having to remind myself of what happened in the previous chapter. 

My favourite chapter so far is Jenny Zhang’s where she talked about her family’s admiration of Sizzler - the embodiment of “the very essence of America”. Sizzler was the only American food her family enjoyed and a big part of that comes from the value. Her family believed that they could get their money’s worth by eating until they felt like puking. I saw some parallels between her family dining at Sizzler and my family shopping at Costco, though we are not as extreme as the Zhang’s. I find Jenny Zhang’s casual tone and story-like pacing quite engaging.