I Am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story

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About I Am An American: The Wong Kim Ark Story

Product Description He challenged the Supreme Court on his right to be called citizen—and won   When American-born Wong Kim Ark returns home to San Francisco after a visit to China, he’s stopped and told he cannot enter: he isn’t American. What happens next would forever change the national conversation on who is and isn’t American. After being imprisoned on a ship for months, Wong Kim Ark takes his case to the Supreme Court and argues any person born in America is an American citizen.   I am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story is an important picture book that introduces young readers to the young man who challenged the Supreme Court for his right to be an American citizen and won, confirming birthright citizenship for all Americans.   From School Library Journal K-Gr 4-Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco in 1873 and knew he was an American. He had never lived anywhere else. Then the Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882, hindering immigration, job opportunities, and eventual citizenship for Chinese people in the United States. Violence toward Chinese people became even more commonplace, and Ark's parents went back to China. After visiting his family in China, Ark was detained from entering the country, despite being born in America. He won the lawsuit in San Francisco to be freed, but this did not apply to the U.S. government, so he brought the case to the Supreme Court. His victory guaranteed citizenship to all of those born in the U.S. This detailed picture book biography introduces readers to a historical figure who changed birthright citizenship laws. The digitally rendered artwork fills each spread, and its detailed imagery gives insight into life in San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1880s and early 1900s. Endpapers include an 1885 neighborhood map of Chinatown, outlining Chinese-occupied, white-occupied, and vacant areas, to give a clearer picture of the city's population. Back matter features photos and a time line starting with 1849, when the first large group of Chinese immigrants began to settle in the U.S., to the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act. VERDICT An important picture book biography to augment classroom conversations about immigration and citizenship.-Kristyn Dorfman, Friends Academy, Locust Valley, NYα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Review The stylized, detailed illustrations create a serious mood for a serious topic.― School Library Connection "An important and complex period in American history geared to young readers."― Kirkus " An important picture book biography to augment classroom conversations about immigration and citizenship."― School Library Journal Firm resolve in the face of discrimination is the theme of this  informative picture-book biography by Brockenbrough (Unpresidented, rev. 3/19) and Lin (most recently the Storytelling Math series of board books, rev. 11/20). Wong Kim Ark was a young Chinese American cook whose 1898 U.S. Supreme Court case set the legal precedent that birthright citizenship applies to everyone, regardless of their race or ethnic background. The authors cover this overlooked part of American history and early anti-Chinese discrimination by telling the story of Wong’s childhood and teenage years in San Francisco’s Chinatown and the four-month imprisonment he experienced after he was denied reentry into California when returning from a family trip to China. Kuo’s (I Dream of Popo, rev. 5/21)  art emphasizes the othering and segregation of Chinese Americans. For example, the book’s front and back endpapers depict a map of 1885 Chinatown showing the clear delineations between where white and Chinese people lived. Throughout the book, white people are shown wearing brown or black outfits while Chinese people wear red, dark blue, and gray clothing. Only the final double-page spread breaks from the theme of separation, showing a modern scene of children from div