I keep reading about so many people who have identified with my book Finding My Voice. I am honored to be connecting to a new audience and helping so many find their own voice in a world full of noise.
In a recent article in Minnesota Public Radio News (MPRNews) in partnership with Sahan Journal, Emily Swanson shares her experience of receiving a copy of my book in the mid ’90s when it was first released.
Emily, who is also from Minnesota like myself, shares how her mom got her a copy of the book after attending a Korean culture camp with her sister to connect with other Korean adoptees. And like many others, it was the first time Emily had seen a book with a picture of someone who looked liked her.
“That was pretty big for me,” she said. “I remember the book had a pretty large picture of the author on the back and I just thought that was the coolest thing. I think it was really cool that my mom got that book for us. It was definitely pretty one-of-a-kind.”
Like Ellen, the main character in the book, Emily understood how it felt to be different and trying to fit in her mostly white community.
“I could definitely relate to the feeling, ‘Hey, I don’t belong here,’” Swanson said. “And it’s going to take some sort of change to make that feeling go away, to feel more like a part of something.”
I love that this book is so relevant, even as saddened and frustrated that such a stigma on the Asian American Culture remains. In fact, Anti-Asian racism is worse now from the impact Covid-19 and a political culture here wanting to blame Asians for its ineptitude. I don’t feel that the themes in the book are ever really going to go away, particularly things like racism which continues to be alive in our lives today,
A professor at St. Catherine University, Sarah Park Dahlen, stated in the article that one of the reasons why the book continues to maintain a grip on readers is because it gives their experiences a voice, even now.
“It was deeply uncomfortable for me to read the racist parts of ‘Finding My Voice,’ because I know how real that situation is,” said Park, who specializes in children’s literature, storytelling and social justice. “It’s really what happens to us and so I think that’s one of the reasons why this book has lasted, [is] because Marie Lee is telling the truth about what we go through.”
I do feel like kids today are so much better informed and more self aware. but if I can help even one person feel understood then it was worth it.