Part Asian, 100% Hapa (Paperback)

by Kip Fulbeck (Author), Paul Spickard (Afterword), Sean Lennon (Foreword) "What am I?..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Part Asian, 100% Hapa is a photo album of the twenty-first-century global village. Hapa is Hawaiian slang for someone whose mixed racial heritage includes Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry. Hapa artist and writer Fulbeck decided to "increase mainstream Hapa awareness" by photographing Hapas of diverse backgrounds and ages and asking each participant how he or she copes with the daily query, "What are you?" Sean Lennon kicks things off with a smart and irreverent foreword, and Fulbeck's simply composed portraits are profoundly evocative. Each person's ethnic background reads like a poem hinting at dramatic journeys and improbable love: Japanese, French, Chinese, Irish, Swedish, Sioux, Thai, Mexican, Irish, and Native American (Yaqui). And their pithy handwritten personal statements are wry and wicked, sweet and tangy.

Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
Originally a derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for half, Hapa is now being embraced as a term of pride by many people of Asian or Pacific Rim mixed-race heritage. Award-winning film producer and artist Kip Fulbeck has created a forum in word and image for Hapas to answer the question they're nearly always asked: "What are you?" Fulbeck's frank, head-on portraits are paired with the sitters' own statements of identity. A work of intimacy, beauty, and powerful self-expression, Part Asian, 100% Hapa is the book Fulbeck says he wishes he had growing up. An introduction to the rest of the world and an affirmation for Hapas themselves -- who now number in the millions -- it offers a new perspective on a rapidly growing population.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811849597
• ISBN-13: 978-0811849593
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #124,655 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book!!!!, May 22, 2006

By	Halfofsomething (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This book is really quite amazing. It brings a few good questions to mind, as well as realizations. It is interesting to read the responses to the question "What am I", especially from the children who all have a beautiful, raw way of expressing themselves, some in pictures, some in scribbles and some in blatently obvious answers, as if the kid would look at you and say "what am I, I'm a kid, duh" It really makes you think twice about asking people "what are you".

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating, powerful, and undeniably timely, May 30, 2006

By	Chandra Prasad (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews

Part Asian, 100% Hapa shines a much needed spotlight on the changing face of America.

Though multiracial individuals comprise at least 7 percent of the U.S. population, according to the 2000 Census, people who are mixed or "hapa" nevertheless tend to be ignored in society's ongoing conversation about race and race relations. Kip Fulbeck thoughtfully puts a stop to this wallflower phenomenon by placing the faces of mixed-race people front and center in this intriguing and artistic new book.

The old proverb is true: a picture does tell a thousand words. Here, each face relays an unflinching, often fascinating tale about its owner. The result is a candid glimpse into a growing population, and also, a generous and quite touching photographic exploration of the feelings, observations, and struggles that make each of us -- in the end -- universally connected.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Stunning and Much Needed!, July 6, 2006

By	Hapa Dad (Costa Mesa, CA) - See all my reviews

I've never come across a book like this and I've looked for one all my life. Having grown up Hapa in the midwest in th 60's I often felt like I was the only one around. Then when my family moved to Hawaii (my dad is Caucasian military, my mom Chinese) in my teens I realized that what I had been missing all along was a community.

Part Asian 100% Hapa gives you that. It gives you a sense that you are not alone and that everyone is dealing with the same struggles of fitting in and finding out who we are. I'm 46 now and I showed it to my daughter who is 7 and she loves it as much as me especially the pics of other kids. She doesn't think about race and that's great. She just likes the book because it's about people being who they are (and she thinks it's funny too). I get tired of all the race talk and about who is this and that. This book is just honest and down to earth.

I also saw the accompanying photo show at the Japanese American National Museum in L.A. and it is phenomenal.