Customer Reviews

Asian American Youth: Culture, Identity and Ethnicity

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A.A.Y.C.I.E. is a compilation of reports from various Asian American Studies writers. If you are not familiar with AAS literature it is a good intro with a wide breadth of community samplings and general facts in part 1. The book itself is rather restrictive with the definition of "Youth". The "youth" it focus' on is high school students and college students, the book does not make room for studies of Jr. high students who participate in these activities. The book does its job, reporting on findings of youths within communities, but that's where it ends. There is a small chapter (The conclusion) where it looks at where AA youth are headed but that's it. This book is not groundbreaking and it suffers from the same shortcomings of most AAS literature as of late. No direction of where the community is headed, how to solve reoccurring problems of gambling and alcohol within our families and completely ignores the mixed or "Happa" community. A good read but don't expect too much.

Not limiting research to just specific Asian national ethnicities or immigrant status, this collection does a superb job of spanning beyond specific timelines, nationalities, generation, socioeconomic demographics, and even sexual orientation. The book is well researched and reveals the unique and varied facets of Asian American Youth Culture...from suburban college campuses to immigrant enclaves and Hollywood's film district to West Hollywood's gay district.

The editors begin with defining the terms "Asian American" and "youth culture". Their facts and figures are incredibly insightful on how these statistics begin affecting Asian Americans as time progresses. With this data as a premise, the book then breaks into individual studies that are arranged chronologically from past to present. Each chapter is a separate study and each author writes with individual research and expertise on their particular subject. The sheer variety of topics that all relate to young Asian Americans is attractive to anyone wanting to broaden an understanding of the new "model minority".

I particularly enjoyed the more current topics that are becoming uniquely Asian American: DJ culture, import car culture, SouthEast Asian gangs, and college campus Christian clubs. I realize that this book was published in 2004 and more than half a decade has passed, but the core of each subject is still prominent to today's Asian Americans. Because of how dated this book is, I don't blame it for not have more recent topics like the construction of Asian American sororities/fraternities and other campus organizations or more in-depth view of uniquely Asian American tastes in music, fashion, art, and social/nightclub culture. I would find the work more complete if such studies were added chapters in a future edition.

This book is recommended to anyone who wants to dive deeper into understanding the unique Asian American position of living between two different cultures, being "forever foreign", and having to carve out your own unique niches to create your own identity (versus finding one). If you are Asian American and want to know that you are not alone, this book may help. I will hand this book over to my younger siblings who are experiencing similar struggles.