Yell-Oh Girls! - by Vickie Nam (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"In this fine book, Asian American girls speak up and speak out. They speak for themselves, to each other, and to the world. This honest, engaging anthology is important. It allows new voices to be heard and new stories to become part of our great American story." -- Mary Pipher, Ph.D, author of Reviving Opehlia

"A must-read for anyone who's ever felt like an outsider looking in." --Teen People

In this groundbreaking collection of personal writings, young Asian American girls come together for the first time and engage in a dynamic converstions about the unique challenges they face in their lives. Promoted by a variety of pressing questions from editor Vickie Nam and culled from hundreds of submission from all over the country, these revelatory essays, poems, and stories tackle such complex issues as dual identities, culture clashes, family matters, body image, and the need to find one's voice.

With a foreword by Phoebe Eng, as well as contributions from accomplished Asian American women mentors Janice Mirikitani, Helen Zia, Nora Okja Keller, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Elaine Kim, Patsy Mink, and Wendy Mink, Yell-Oh Girls! is an inspiring and much-needed resource for young Asian American girls.

From the Back Cover

In this groundbreaking collection of personal writings, young Asian American girls come together for the first time and engage in a dynamic converstions about the unique challenges they face in their lives. Promoted by a variety of pressing questions from editor Vickie Nam and culled from hundreds of submission from all over the country, these revelatory essays, poems, and stories tackle such complex issues as dual identities, culture clashes, family matters, body image, and the need to find one's voice.

With a foreword by Phoebe Eng, as well as contributions from accomplished Asian American women mentors Janice Mirikitani, Helen Zia, Nora Okja Keller, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Elaine Kim, Patsy Mink, and Wendy Mink, Yell-Oh Girls! is an inspiring and much-needed resource for young Asian American girls.

Review Quotes

"In this fine book, Asian American girls speak up and speak out. They speak for themselves, to each other, and to the world. This honest, engaging anthology is important. It allows new voices to be heard and new stories to become part of our great American story." -- Mary Pipher, Ph.D, author of Reviving Opehlia

"In Vickie Nam's YELL-Oh Girls!, young Asian American girls. . . speak of their bicultural roots--feeling at home in no land, challenging family relationships made more difficult by cultural barriers, defining strong identities and believing in change. Come adolescence, this quite possibly could become [a] cultural bible." -- aMagazine

"Readers...will be swept along by the authors' sincerity." -- Booklist

"Exuberant, poignant, hard-hitting, raw with anger and honesty--these are voices that need to be heard. Once heard, they will be remembered. Go, girls!" -- Chitra Divakaruni, author of The Mistress of Spices and The Unknown Errors of Our Lives

"A must-read for anyone who's ever felt like an outsider looking in." -- Teen People

"A diversity of younger Asian-American writers carrying the banner forward. I think this is great." -- Claire S. Chow, author of Leaving Deep Water: The Lives of Asian American Women at the Crossroads of Two Cultures

"Thanks to this fine collection of writings, future generations of Asian-American girls need not feel so isolated." -- Publishers Weekly

"[Vickie Nam] is determined to make heard the voices of Asian-American girls." -- Time

"Finding your voice has to do with writing and practicing writing until you become attuned to your own rhythms and poetic sensibilities, until you write like yourself and no one else." -- Marie G. Lee, author of Finding My Voice and Necessary Roughness

"YELL-Oh Girls! gives voice to an energetic group of young Asian-American women. The collection is alternately poignant and funny, tender and tough. The diversity of young voices and accompanying mentor pieces, written by various Asian-American women leaders-including journalist Helen Zia, novelist Lois-Ann Yamanaka, and U.S. Representative Patsy Mink--belie the notion that any culture can have only one spokesperson. This book is valuable not only for its insights--which are sharp--but perhaps more importantly, as an inspiration to any young person seeking self-expression." -- Elaine Mar, author of Paper Daughter

"A book like YELL-Oh Girls! would have let me know that I wasn't alone." -- Margaret Lee, Ms. Magazine

"Bold, bitter and true...[the] testimonies of split identity collected here...are equally brave, whether gently bemused or heartbreakingly bewildered in tone. The energy in this debut...never lets up, and the ruckus is as affirming as it is rebellious." -- San Francisco Examiner

"[An] unflinchingly honest collection...[Yell-oh Girls!] is an excellent stepping-off point for thinking and talking about that 'something bigger'." -- HonoluluAdvertiser.com

"Finally we have an anthology of writing by real Asian American girls that puts the lie to all those stereotypes. These girls have attitide, and they want their words to count. . . .A groundbreaking and important resource for girls, their parents, teachers, and others who care about young women's lives." -- New Moon Network