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“Readers will come for the big names, but they’ll stay for the powerful stories, excellent writing, and feeling of connection. An absolute must for well-rounded collections.”

—Library Journal, Starred Review

“[T]his beautifully woven collection of memoir essays… gifts readers with intimate glimpses of contributors’ private lives, rife with admiration for immigrant parents and pride in cultural backgrounds, along with the frustration and anguish that come with feeling like an outsider in their own country.”

—Booklist, Starred Review

American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures

Written by America Ferrera
Published by Gallery Books

America Ferrera has always felt wholly American, and yet, her identity is inextricably linked to her parents’ homeland and Honduran culture. Speaking Spanish at home, having Saturday-morning-salsa-dance-parties in the kitchen, and eating tamales alongside apple pie at Christmas never seemed at odds with her American identity.

Still, she yearned to see that identity reflected in the larger American narrative.

Now, in American Like Me, America invites thirty-one of her friends, peers, and heroes to share their stories about life between cultures. We know them as actors, comedians, athletes, politicians, artists, and writers. However, they are also immigrants, children or grandchildren of immigrants, indigenous people, or people who otherwise grew up with deep and personal connections to more than one culture. Each of them struggled to establish a sense of self, find belonging, and feel seen. And they call themselves American enthusiastically, reluctantly, or not at all.

Ranging from the heartfelt to the hilarious, their stories shine a light on a quintessentially American experience and will appeal to anyone with a complicated relationship to family, culture, and growing up.

Primary ISBN:
Publication Date: September 2019
Available As: Paperback, Audiobook, eBook
Essay Collection, Nonfiction, Age 18 or older

Community Represented: ,

Themes: , , , , , , , , , ,

Setting: United States

Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: Immigrant, 1st Generation, 2nd Generation

Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience

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