Call Me Emma by Makee
Street Noise
Publisher synopsis: After immigrating from China to New York City, a teenage girl and her family struggle to adjust to the new world they’ve found themselves in.
Yixuan Liu, a 16-year-old Chinese girl, just moved from China to America with her family. To try to fit in to a new school, a new city, and a new culture, Yixuan chooses an English name, Emma.
As she works to succeed in school and make friends, Yixuan/Emma is confused by the anti-Asian and anti-Black racism she hears from her teachers and her friends. She must learn to be herself and stop striving to please everyone else in order to make sense of it all.
Balancing chaotic school life with divorcing parents, her sister’s mental illness, and a new crush, Emma must ask herself, “How do I know who I really am?”
My Thoughts: Identity is a huge theme in this memoir by Makee. We get to see a bit of Yixuan Liu’s (Emma’s) life in China before the move to America, but that is just a brief glimpse. The bulk of the book is about the ways in which this huge change in their life shapes her individually and her family as a whole.
There are moments of connection between the family as they navigate the new space and culture, but there are also many challenges and things that seem to make them splinter off to themselves. And even in this splintering, Emma wonders about that parallel life that would have happened if they had stayed in China.
It’s something to grapple with because things like the opportunities she has with art lessons are definitely changing her life, but the effect this move had on her family is enormous. Not knowing if some of those things would have happened if they hadn’t moved is difficult to gauge and the what ifs keep coming.
Makee shares a lot of her struggles in school and with family and also shows her successes with art that help her process everything. It feels very honest and open as she wonders about who she is and who she wants to be.
Recommendation: Get it soon especially if you appreciate memoirs in a graphic novel format. It’s a moving look into the life of a young woman and her family adapting to a new way of living in the U.S. with the many ups and downs that entails.
Pages: 246
Availability: On shelves now
Review copy: Digital copy via publisher
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