I Am An American : The Wong Kim Ark Story
Published November 23, 2021 • Little, Brown & Co. • Written by Martha Brockenbrough and Grace Lin
He challenged the Supreme Court on his right to be called citizen—and won
When American-born Wong Kim Ark returns home to San Francisco after a visit to China, he’s stopped and told he cannot enter: he isn’t American. What happens next would forever change the national conversation on who is and isn’t American. After being imprisoned on a ship for months, Wong Kim Ark takes his case to the Supreme Court and argues any person born in America is an American citizen.
I am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story is an important picture book that introduces young readers to the young man who challenged the Supreme Court for his right to be an American citizen and won, confirming birthright citizenship for all Americans.
Launch Party
On November 20, the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience located in Seattle, hosted (clockwise, from top l.) authors Martha Brockenbrough and Grace Lin, and illustrator Julia Kuo for a virtual launch event for their new picture book I Am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story (Little, Brown). Rahul Gupta, director of education and tours at the Wing Luke Museum, served as moderator. Brockenbrough and Kuo filmed their discussion at the museum, while Lin joined virtually. - Publishers Weekly
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Interviews
LBYR Draws! Featuring Julia Kuo and Wong Kim Ark
with Mac Kids Books
This Chinese immigrant led the change for US birthright citizenship!
by Voice of America - Plus One Youtube Channel
Q&A with We Need Diverse Books
hosted by Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Book Chat with the Illustrator featuring Julia Kuo on I AM AN AMERICAN
on We Need Diverse Books
School visit to Hamlin Robinson
Learn About How I Work
Learn about how I approached a sketch in I Am An American: The Wong Kim Ark Story
Critical Praise
“In simple, spare prose, Brockenbrough and Lin trace the early life of Wong Kim Ark—born in San Francisco in 1873 to parents who emigrated from China—whose Supreme Court case would clarify the definition of U.S. birthright citizenship in 1898. Employing the refrain “I am an American,” the narrative effectively emphasizes how racism can impact laws’ interpretation and implementation. After Kim Ark is imprisoned for several months when his American citizenship is called into question, his “fate depended on whom the justices believed. And it wasn’t only his future at stake.” Kuo’s fine-lined digital art, gracefully employing reds, blues, and browns, presents an immersive backdrop to this solid historical primer, which also resonates in the present day...”
- Publishers Weekly
“This book brings to life the sights and sounds of San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1800s, including illustrations that present the bustling neighborhood with trams, street food, and red lanterns. Unfortunately, that appealing setting is also the backdrop for a story about harsh discrimination. Wong Kim Ark was born in Chinatown to parents who immigrated from China.
When he grew up, he worked a humble job as a cook, but a bigger destiny awaited. Once, upon returning from a trip to China, he was denied entry back into the U.S. and imprisoned for being Chinese—even though he was a citizen, born on American soil. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor, ensuring citizenship for anyone born on U.S. lands. Wong Kim Ark's story is a little known piece of Asian American history yet indispensable to any young reader learning about immigration and being a citizen. It's also extremely timely in its portrayals of anti-Asian sentiment, which has flared up amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
- Booklist
"...Kuo’s art emphasizes the othering and segregation of Chinese Americans. For example, the book’s front and back endpapers depict a map of 1885 Chinatown showing the clear delineations between where white and Chinese people lived. Throughout the book, white people are shown wearing brown or black outfits while Chinese people wear red, dark blue, and gray clothing. Only the final double-page spread breaks from the theme of separation, showing a modern scene of children from diverse backgrounds (and wearing a variety of colors) playing together near the Golden Gate Bridge."
- Horn Book
"...This detailed picture book biography introduces readers to a historical figure who changed birthright citizenship laws. The digitally rendered artwork fills each spread, and its detailed imagery gives insight into life in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 1880s and early 1900s...
An important picture book biography to augment classroom conversations about immigration and citizenship."
- School Library Journal
"This narrowly focused story concerns a little-known real-life case with broad implications... Poster-style art conveys racial division in a city known today for its diversity as we learn that, although the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to all persons born in the United States, government lawyers argue that Wong Kim Ark’s Chinese ancestry made him “unfit” to be American. All the while, Ark insists, “I am an American.”
- San Francisco Chronicle
