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Alejandra Kim feels like an imposter everywhere she goes. She looks Korean (because she is ethnically), but her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Argentina, making her feel more Latina. But in her neighborhood, where plenty of Latinos live, they don’t consider her one of them. With other Koreans, she’s not Korean enough. At her expensive private school (which she attends on scholarship), Ale sticks out compared to all the white kids and teachers.
That’s all hard enough, but life this year has been particularly difficult because her father died after he fell (or did he jump?) onto the subway tracks. Ale and her mom just scrape by, with her mom working a lot, and when her mom is home, she doesn’t want to talk about her dad.
Ale’s school is super “woke,” and her best friend particularly likes to fight for the rights of marginalized people. When a teacher makes an insensitive comment to Ale, she’s not happy about it, but she’d rather ignore it and just go about her business. But when her friend takes the microaggression public, Ale is suddenly in the spotlight, where she’d rather not be.
Dealing with grief over her father’s death, the ways people are reacting to her at school, applying to colleges, and looking afresh at her relationships makes for a really stressful time for Ale. She thought she knew what she wanted, but maybe it’s not going to be the best fit for her. When it comes down to it, Ale will have to figure out her place in the world.
I’ve read a number of books about multiethnic/multiracial teens who feel they aren’t fully “one or the other.” But Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim does a particularly good job of expressing the conflicting feelings and challenges that come with the territory of not only being multiethnic but going through a time of life where you’re just trying to find yourself.
I also got a bit of a kick out of the very liberal school and all the bending over backward so many people there did to show they’re tolerant and sensitive to the needs of any possibly marginalized group. While I believe it’s vital to listen to others’ stories and use DEI practices, there comes a point that some “woke” behavior becomes absolutely over the top. I thought it was interesting to see a person of color, in the writer and her main character, respond to some of that “over-wokeness.”
An excellent book.
Rated: High. Profanity includes 30 uses of strong language, around 30 instances of moderate profanity, about 30 uses of mild language, and almost 20 instances of the name of Deity in vain. There is talk about a character being depressed and likely committing suicide.
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
