Book Summary and Reviews of A Map Is Only One Story by Nicole Chung, Mensah Demary

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Cathryn_Conroy

How It Feels to Be a Stranger in a Strange Land: A Personal View of Immigration
This collection of 20 essays is about one thing: point of view. As in, someone else's point of view—not your own. It's a way of seeing life with other eyes.

The title is taken from a line in one of the essays that is titled "A Map of Lost Things" by Jamila Osman, who writes, "A map is only one story. It is not the most important story. The most important story is the one a people tell about themselves."

While some of the essays sparkle and others are a bit of a dud, overall they tell such a fascinating story of what it is like to be a stranger in a strange land and try to assimilate without losing some central piece of their identity. The home countries range from Somalia to Syria, from India to Iran, from the Philippines to Peru.

My favorites include:
• "Carefree White Girls, Careful Brown Girls," by Cinelle Barnes: On the Isle of Palms off Charleston, South Carolina, K.L. teaches Cinelle how to surf. They are both mothers, and they both love the ocean. But the similarities end there. K.L., blonde and beautiful, worked for years running drugs in her beach bag. She was never stopped. Cinelle was adopted at age 16 and moved from the Philippines to the United States, but for eight years she was undocumented—and oh so very, very careful to always do everything right. She was frequently stopped.

• "Undocumented Lovers in America," by Krystal A. Sital: Krystal's Irish-American boyfriend (and especially his snobby mother) don't understand what it's like to be undocumented, but when she meets Juan at a pizzeria where they both work, everything changes for her. The sex is as hot as the restaurant kitchen, but since they are both harboring deep secrets, there is no trust or future for them.

• "The Dress," by Soraya Membreno: She went to a top college, but when she graduated, Soraya, who was from Nicaragua and did not attend a posh New England boarding school as did so many of her classmates, was unaware of the custom of wearing a white dress to the commencement ceremony. Her dress was white with red polka dots. Years later, she is still embarrassed.

• "Dead-Guy Shirts and Motel Kids," by Niina Pollari: As a child, the author moved from Finland to Florida with her parents and sister and lived for a few weeks in a motel where she and her sister befriended the two daughters of the owners. This story is about how she found her style—fashion and personality—over the years.

This collection gives readers a very personal view of what it's like to be an immigrant—especially undocumented—in the United States in today's precarious times.