Are You Nobody Too?
By Tina Cane
Emily, the protagonist of this novel in verse, is the namesake of Emily Dickenson. When her parents named her, they scarcely could have realized how significant their name choice would be to the infant, whom they adopted from China, as she came to consciousness grappling with the problem of identity. Most of us probably know a person like Emily, who was born in China under the one-child rule and was put up for adoption by parents hoping that a second try would provide a boy. Godsends to aspiring parents in the US, these girls had to figure out at a very young age how to cope with the racial divide between them and their families.
Emily has loving parents, but she still struggles with her identity, particularly after financial difficulties require her to leave her nurturing private school to attend a public school in New York’s Chinatown. Despite her appearance, clearly Asian, her cultural experience has been of a privileged white. She feels acutely out of place. Now surrounded by a culturally Chinese peer group, she must face the tough challenge of finding a place where she belongs.
Each of the short chapters is a prose poem, which, as in Tina’s previous work Alma Presses Play, brings to the surface the protagonist’s emotions. In this work, Emily uses the poems of Emily Dickenson to help her articulate her feelings and to feel less alone. Tina links the chapters by a repeated motif or a word. Once readers notice this feature of the work, they will look for this associative turn of mind.
Emily’s journey culminates in the Dragon Boat Festival. Along the way we meet an array of distinctive characters: her family, teachers, and friends. Adopted children, particularly of a different race from their parents, will appreciate seeing a version of their own experience and may come away with new ways to find their own dual place.
