Yell-Oh Girls!: Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American

By: Nam, Vickie

Book Overview

A collection of illuminating, poignant, and incisive essays and observations capture the complex realities of life for young Asian-American women as they address such topics as culture clash,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060959444
• ISBN13: 9780060959449
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

writings from the heart of asian girls!

Well, I was not going to write a review, except seeing one of the recent posts really bothered me. I liked Yell-oh Girls because it was a carefully done book that gave all different types of girls a chance to get heard. The comment from the reader from NY makes judges the girls unfairly. He is punishing them when they should be recognized and made to feel proud for being smart, talented and following their goals.Also, I have never seen these kinds of discussions happening out there in the real world, so they are not cliche to me. This book is close to the issues I deal with on a daily basis. I respect girls for speaking out which isn't easy. I hope this wont be the last book and that more will come out in the future!

Wish this book was around when I was a teenager

I agree with the reader below, this is a sweet collection of stories. I enjoyed and appreciated that the stories don't go into too much depth. For an anthology written by young girls, I think the reader below is expecting too much. I'm glad that the stories are true to their experiences, and that they do not try too hard to "explain" at the expense of being didactic.I would buy this for every young asian american girl I know.

Thoughtful, personal, complex and LONG overdue.

This book does a lot to restore my faith in the publishing industry, which often seems more concerned with profit and packaging than substance, vision or good writing. Although I am a contributor to the anthology, when I first received editor Vickie Nam's call-for-submission emails a year and a half ago, I was skeptical. I was interested in issues facing Asian American women and girls, but I doubted that publishing giant HarperCollins was capable of producing a thoughtful, sophisticated book about deeply personal, complex and diverse experiences. But despite my fears, the book is wonderful, and I wish it had been written ages ago! This anthology of personal writings by Asian American girls and women is the first of its kind, and it sets a high standard for any future work that wishes to treat Asian American girls' issues. The 80-some essays, letters, stories and poems included in it are thoughtful, eye-opening, moving, honest, strongly-voiced and well-edited. Furthermore, the collection will dispel most myths that readers of any race or gender may hold about Asian American females. Both the girls and the older "mentor" women published here exhibit a great diversity of backgrounds, personalities, interests, accomplishments and views. They have done, felt and experienced so much, and they write with sincerity and eloquence about everything from kim chee to punk to anorexia to feminist theory. What the writers share is a determination to engage with issues of gender, race, ethnicity and culture, and to stand up for themselves in a society that punishes difference. Vickie Nam's careful editing and organization, along with her thoughtful, personable chapter introductions, give coherence to an eclectic array of voices, but never stifles the natural energy of the pieces. Like many writers' first books, this one seems to be a project of great personal importance to Vickie Nam, and it has the potential to change the way Asian American girls read. Finally, a heartfelt, complex work that portrays Asian American girls as more than just token minor characters or damaging stereotypes! This book is what was missing from all of our childhoods, but it is a great gift to future generations of Asian American girls. Yell-Oh Girls will undoubtedly appeal most to Asian American teenage girls. However, young men and non-Asian Americans will surely see themselves in this collection as well, since we have all been on our own journeys toward self-acceptance and, as the book jacket says, "lived to yell about it."

The Perfect Book for Asian American Females

Ever since I started rediscovering my Asian American culture in 1997, I searched for everywhere for a book where I could relate my feelings. There are many good books out there written by Asian American authors, but none has compared to this anthology. This is the first book that I have read where I could relate to all the writers' thoughts. "Yell-Oh Girls" is made up of wonderful stories, poems, essays, and quotes by young Asian American girls and female Asian American role models. The book is divided up into 5 categories: Orientation:Finding the Way Home, Family Ties, Dolly Rage, Finding My Voice, and Girlwind:Emerging Voices For Change. The category I found that I could relate to most was "Orientation: Finding the Way Home". In this category, the stories are mainly about dealing with being Asian and American. Many of these girls feel like they are stuck in the middle of nowhere and this is a feeling that many can relate to. Throughout this book there are many topics that make you think. It is such a surprise to discover that racism and ignorance is still occuring in the United States today. From the subject of Mr. Wong to the stereotypical view of Asian females in today's media are also discussed in this book. This is one book that should not be ignored because the Asian American population is growing everyday and the issues in the book are very important. I would highly recommmend this book to everyone I know. Not only is is a great book for Asian American females, but I think people of different races would enjoy. I think many females of different colors can relate to some of what is said in this book. I think it's great that Asian American girls have finally had their chance to speak out for themselves.

Yell-oh Girls Speak Out!

I ordered this book online a few weeks before it came out in bookstores on August 1. For the first few moments after I got it in the mail, I just held it. This is a book I would appreciate now as a 21-year-old college graduate, but one that would have been my companion as a miserable high schooler. I don't know what the editor Vickie Nam went through exactly when she grew up in a white town, since I grew up outside of LA for most of my life where there were always tons of APA kids. But I related to so many of the stories because I remember how it felt being an Asian American girl who knew I didn't fit into "American" society because the majority saw me as different-an alien, kind of. Every kid can probably think of a time when he or she was called a 'chink' (a penetrating story in "Dolly Rage"), or when she tried to live up to her parents dreams (several stories in "Family Ties").I loved reading this book because it's a first real resource for kids who are trying to understand their cultural identity. It's something I can share with my baby cousin when she reaches middle school, so she's not just stuck with the stuff that portrays white girls and mainstream society. This book-- well-written and totally relevant in today's world-- is definitely going to make girls look at themselves in new ways. Thanks to the courage of a whole army of Yell-oh girls!