May 29, 2007

  • With a little Korean girl on the cover of this book, I thought this would be your typical tale of a young Asian girl's struggle to reconcile her heritage with that of American culture.  A borrowed this book from a friend and her praise of the book amounted to 'it's ok, something to read if you're on the plane'. And since I was going away on a beach holiday, Digging to America seemed like a good choice.

    Surprisingly enough, Tyler does not focus much on the two adopted Korean babies but more on the families that take them in, one American and one Iranian.  The American family is your stereotypical one: loud, open, warm, and at times all-consuming of the quieter, more reserved Iranian one.  You get a sense that the American family was there to play against the Iranian one so that Tyler could show you the Iranian view point a more effectively.  In certain instances, the Iranians succumb to the American influence and in others they stand their ground and stick to their own cultural values.  It is the classic struggle of all immigrant stories.  Immigrants need to adapt to their new surroundings but also find ways of keeping their own identities at the same time. 

    I can't say this book gave me any new insights beyond that of my own family's immigrant story, but the characters are colorful, likeable, and brought a story alive for you.