Part Asian, 100% Hapa

by Sean Lennon, Paul Spickard, Kip Fulbeck

Book Overview

Once 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,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811849597
• ISBN13: 9780811849593
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.0" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely Stunning and Much Needed!

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.

Illuminating, powerful, and undeniably timely

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.

will open your eyes, mind & heart

i felt a very immediate and personal connection to this book, being hapa myself, and think that it is a must have for any hapa, young or old. however i also think this is an amazing book, period. it is funny and engaging and beautiful and something that anyone who has ever been pigeonholed or struggled with identity(which i would guess is pretty much everyone) can relate to. it is hard to sufficiently explain how great and filled with 'hapa pride' this book made me feel, so you will just have to buy it.

Wonderful book!!!!

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".