Oh, Ellen, editor. You Are Here: Connecting Flights. Allida, 2023. 978-0-063-23908-1. $19.99. 272 p. Grades 4-8.
Linda Sue Park, Erin Entrada Kelly, Grace Lin, Traci Chee, Mike Chen, Meredith Ireland, Mike Jung, Minh Lê, Ellen Oh, Randy Ribay, Christina Soontornvat, and Susan Tan have joined together to bring us one of the most creative stories I have seen in a long time. You are Here: Connecting Flights takes place in O’Hare International Airport. Each chapter is written by a different author. Each chapter tells the story of a young East or Southeast Asian-American tween stuck in the international terminal during a weather-related flight suspension. The story begins with Paul who is helping to guide his grandmother and his two year old sister through security. Paul’s family is traveling to Thailand. Grandma speaks very little English and is stopped when the TSA officers discover she has her husband’s ashes in a coffee can inside her carry-on bag. The language barrier, the confusion, and the unexpected discovery of the ashes leads to a delay in the security line. Fellow travelers – most of whom do not understand what is actually happening – make angry, racist comments. When the weather-delay is announced, many travelers blame Paul’s family, incorrectly assuming “those people” were doing something illegal. In the chaos Paul’s sister wanders off… she is found and returned to her family in the second story by the son of an airport employee who is stuck in O’Hare for the day when his babysitter cancels at the last minute and his mother is unable to take the day off. Lee Chang is traveling on his own with his electric guitar. Armed with only the legal knowledge that instruments can be carried-on if a seat has been purchased to store the guitar during flight, Lee is challenged by Security who don’t believe he is carrying a guitar. Security claims Lee doesn’t look like someone who would play rock music. In one story a young basketball player endures relentless micro-aggressions from his teammates but doesn’t feel he can say anything. In another, Natalie finds the courage to confront her best friend who is designing an elaborate Japanese inspired cos-play costume that is not at all appropriate. A brother and sister traveling with an airline representative encounter criticism when the young boy gets his finger stuck in the mesh of a metal airport seat. Two sisters find understanding when one reveals she wears a hat and face mask to hide her Asian identity. Each story carries a brief encounter with a character or situation depicted in another story. In the final chapter American born Soojin and her mother are moving to Korea after their family business is destroyed by vandals. When a boy shouting racial slurs dumps her popcorn, Soojin and her mother are surprised by the kindness of strangers who witnessed the confrontation and try to make amends.
THOUGHTS: In a recent interview Ellen Oh described the style of this book as being an “episodic novel.” The connections between the stories are intricate and intriguing and make for a fascinating plot study. Though each chapter is fairly short, the amount of micro-aggressions, negative backlash and racist comments depicted over the course of all 12 chapters borders on feeling heavy – and yet, that is the point. In the span of a few hours each character only encounters a momentary comment or confrontation, but strung together we are able to see the relentlessness of the racism endured by Asian-Americans on a daily basis. We also see the immense courage of tweens as they navigate each separate situation. Importantly, we feel the immense pride each young character expresses in being an American. In the end Soojin and her mother come to the realization that there are more good people in the world than there are bad. An important book with a unique structure that will encourage Asian-American tweens, while hopefully bringing the challenges they face to light for their non-Asian peers.
