Review: Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Informative and very engaging!

An interesting and surprisingly humorous read, Sara Saedi's memoir tells of her family's immigration to the United States to escape the instability and Islamic fundamentalism of Iran and the difficulties growing up undocumented as they navigated the long and difficult path to legal residency and citizenship.

Her memoir begins with a brief history of modern Iran in order to give context to her family's choice to emigrate, and is full of entertaining and touching stories of her extended family and their histories, Iranian-American culture, and the trials and tribulations of navigating the difficult and drama-filled teen years with the added stress and pressures of being undocumented. We learn about arranged marriages, family scandals, surprisingly different religious beliefs, and see Sara endure typical teen problems like acne, unrequited crushes, body image, and first loves, all the while supported by a close and loving family.

At first I was afraid this was going to be a dark and depressing story, but Sara's self-deprecating humor and wit made the story both entertaining and relatable, while still getting her point across. I appreciated the information on the history of Iran, as well as her advice to other undocumented immigrants and discussion of current immigration issues. Her description of her family's beliefs, values, and parenting style clearly illustrates how wrong stereotypes and assumptions about people based on one element (in this case country of origin) can be. I felt it might have been just a little bit long, as I felt my interest starting to waiver about 2/3 of the way through, but overall I found it well-written and more engaging that other memoirs I've read.

I would recommend this for ages 15 & up, primarily due to descriptions of drug and alcohol use by teens and mentions of sex (non-graphic). This would be equally as appealing to adults, particularly those who grew up around the same time as the author.

[I received this book as a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.]     

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