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A review by mezzythedragon
You Are Here: Connecting Flights by Ellen Oh
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Emotionally charged stories all dealing with anti-Asian racism and xenophobia, and the struggle to speak up against them. Except for the last story, and eventually one of the TSA agents from the first one, virtually every white character is racist in varying degrees, from downright white supremacist to blissfully ignorant yet still with a hint of obnoxiousness. Yes, that even includes white friends and family members. And what’s really upsetting is that the majority of these racists are adults, and they’re harassing kids.
AJ’s was different because the xenophobia—specifically sinophobia—was coming from his obnoxious Filipino teammates (and unfortunately, Ribay’s description of them is something I know all too well 😬🫣). Not only that, they were being classist towards his friend Saul, making fun of his lack of money (another thing I’m also familiar with). While I was glad Ribay brought up the fraught relationship between China and the Philippines, I wish he went into it more. In fact, I wish the stories also mentioned the tense relationships between East and Southeast Asians, because that totally is a thing sadly, on top of dealing with anti-Asian hate.
Henry’s story was the most touching for me. I loved his tender relationship with his dad James, who like him was autistic. Also like how he used his aikido to make some punk look bad.
It’s only fitting that Ellen Oh finishes this anthology with Soojin’s story. Seeing Oh’s never-back-down stance from Twitter, Soojin was definitely like her author, and of course when one person speaks up, everyone will.
AJ’s was different because the xenophobia—specifically sinophobia—was coming from his obnoxious Filipino teammates (and unfortunately, Ribay’s description of them is something I know all too well 😬🫣). Not only that, they were being classist towards his friend Saul, making fun of his lack of money (another thing I’m also familiar with). While I was glad Ribay brought up the fraught relationship between China and the Philippines, I wish he went into it more. In fact, I wish the stories also mentioned the tense relationships between East and Southeast Asians, because that totally is a thing sadly, on top of dealing with anti-Asian hate.
Henry’s story was the most touching for me. I loved his tender relationship with his dad James, who like him was autistic. Also like how he used his aikido to make some punk look bad.
It’s only fitting that Ellen Oh finishes this anthology with Soojin’s story. Seeing Oh’s never-back-down stance from Twitter, Soojin was definitely like her author, and of course when one person speaks up, everyone will.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Cultural appropriation
Also includes white girl tears and sinophobia.