Though more of an immigrant story than a TCK one, Almost American Girl has many strong TCK themes throughout the graphic novel. This true story is told as a memoir in pictures by Korean American author Robin Ha. Robin is suddenly moved to Alabama, USA from Seoul, Korea without even being able to say goodbye to her friends or bring her most precious belongings. She just thought they were going on vacation! Now she has a new step-family who don’t seem to like her and she can’t understand anyone at her new school.
Despite the culture shock, her loneliness and her anger at her mother for suddenly uprooting her, Robin eventually makes friends and finds solace in comics and manga. She gets better at English and is surprised to find so many signatures in her yearbook at the end of the year. But when her mother’s new marriage fails, they move yet again.
In Virginia, Robin finds more international kids like herself and even Korean friends, and finally feels like she belongs. At the end of the book she visits Korea for the first time since she left and realizes that the country she has been longing for doesn’t even feel like home any more. She has changed and so have her old friends in Seoul. “I didn’t exactly fit in Korea or America,” she thinks to herself. And that was okay.
Misunderstood is a decent introductory book for those looking to better understand TCKs, written for TCKs themselves, parents, and those who care for TCKs (like counselors or those who work for the parents’ organizations). It goes into detail about the different types of TCKs (like military brats, missionary kids, etc.) and the pros and cons of different schooling options while outside your passport country.
The book is based on interviews that the author has conducted on a large sample of TCKs and included many quotes and stories to accompany each section. While this lends credibility to her book, it can also be misleading.
Being a TCK caregiver, I know many TCKs who would disagree with the generalizations that she makes. It seems she interviewed TCKs who identify strongly with their overseas experiences and have struggled in adapting to their passport cultures. She said every TCK she interviewed claimed reentry was “a particularly difficult experience” (pg. 211). I know several TCKs who would disagree and say the experience was not very difficult for them. Many TCKs adapt well to their passport culture and do not strongly identify with being a TCK, though these are probably the TCKs least likely to volunteer to be interviewed about TCK experiences.
So while the book as a whole is a good summary of TCK experiences in general, one has to keep in mind that her interview sample was likely skewed and many TCKs would say her generalizations about TCK beliefs and experiences do not fit them.
This is a strange story of Valentine’s Day love set in an International School. Cupid & Dove visit an elementary school seeking to bring love but instead creating confusion. Written by an 11 year old TCK in the form of a (very) long poem, it’s a sweet book but the cadence of the poem changes a lot and can be difficult to follow. The author includes his own tips for TCKs and parents of TCKs who are moving at the end. There’s also an odd bonus poem about fish dying.
Reading level: age 10-12
Naomi is a 12-year old Canadian girl who is forced to move to a small northern town in Japan and no one asked her if she wanted to go. She left behind her friends and her beloved grandparents and her dog Billy and she is not happy about it. Everything is strange in Japan and she’s seen as a strange outsider, not even able to read or communicate at first.
Gradually, Naomi begins to learn about Japanese festivals and foods and customs. She becomes friends with Midori, a Japanese girl her age who used to live in the US. And from there Naomi’s world begins to open up even more and she learns to love Japan and the people in her village. As she learns about her new home, the readers also get to learn about the language, writing and history of Japan. It’s a sweet, calming read and I was sad to put the book down.
This is the first book in a trilogy.
With over 90 essays in this collection for parents educating children overseas, it is indeed a comprehensive guide to TCK educational issues. Covering a large range of topics from choosing a national school to second-language learning to online learning, this volume will answer most questions parents have about educating their child overseas. With the essay format, it’s easy to pick which topics are most relevant to read (because at 667 pages, I doubt most people will finish the whole thing). One downside to this volume is that it is on the older side, being published in 2001, and the overseas educational world has changed in the time since its publication. Here are the essay sections covered:
- Basic Pieces
- Child Development Pieces
- Cross-cultural pieces
- Educational Development Pieces
- Cross-cultural Education Pieces
- Home Education Pieces
- National School Pieces
- Looking for some other pieces
Ten-year old Samantha is about to start her fifth school. After living in Nepal for several years, she and her family have returned “home” to Australia, but Sam has had a hard time fitting in.
Assigned to sit at a table with the “mean girls”, Sam feels excluded. When she is teased for ineptly explaining her parents’ jobs, she defends herself with a wild story about her mom, but that only makes things worse. As she gets in deeper trying to defend the lie the mocking gets meaner and Sam becomes more and more miserable until things finally reach a breaking point.
Though the story is about a young TCK the major theme of the book is how to recognize and handle subtle and overt bullying.
Ages 8-12
Available on Kindle here
