23 May / part asian • 100% hapa by Kip Fulbeck [in Christian Science Monitor]
“hapa (hä’pä) adj. 1. Slang. of mixed racial heritage with partial roots in Asian and/or Pacific Islander ancestry. n. 2. Slang. a person of such ancestry. [der./Hawaiian: Hapa Haole (half white)]” Thus opens Fulbeck’s fabulous compilation of hapas who each answer for themselves the too-often-asked question, “What are you?”
Imagine having to define yourself every day for perfect strangers! “I am exactly the same as every other person in 2500,” answers one self-defined “Japanese, French, Chinese, Irish, Swedish, Sioux”-hapa. Indeed, he undoubtedly is the face of the 21st century.
Reviews: “In Celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, some new and notable books,” Christian Science Monitor, May 23, 2006
“TBR‘s Contributing Editors’ Favorite Reads of 2006: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things … in Print, That Is …,” The Bloomsbury Review, November/December 2006
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2006