for AAPI month, i wanted to learn more about asian american history, especially since most of my classes did not cover it. this book covers the history of japanese americans and chinese americans during and shortly after world war ii and it's incredibly informative in describing how these minorities mobilized and approached activism, the creation of the model minority, and the standards of white supremacy that got them there. the author also adds additional context about world war ii and the cold war that makes the activism make more sense, and altogether, i learned so much from this book.

however, this book is incredibly academic and dense, even moreso than other books i've read for my classes. i almost wonder if it would've been easier to read had the japanese and chinese experiences been split into two sections rather than alternating chronologically? but there's not much story-making/story-telling here, it's just the straight facts as they happened. this could make the book less accessible for the general reader, and that's unfortunate.

i was also more interested in learning about the model minority myth and race-making in the modern era, but this book primarily covers the two/three decades during and after wwii. still worth a read, just be ready to be patient with it.