The Upside Down Year by Francis Lee

Read any story that we haven't read yet and write a review of the story and explain why it matters. Why should anyone care about the story/read it?

The Upside Down Year by Francis Lee

The author is this story shows another side of the immigrant story from leaving Hong Kong to Arriving in Australia.

The author in this story shows the other side of the immigrant story that is not shown clearly in the media in Australian. While the media shows us the image of immigrant as being “boat people” that are leaving there country and forcefully putting themselves upon us. This story shows the immigrants as people that are looking for a better education to help them and their family. This is juxtaposed by the means that he used to enter the country.

This story also shows that not all people that enter the country illegally are “boat people” that corruption in the immigration office is a contribution to the fact that many people are entering the country illegally. This means that common media is showing the side of the story that makes Australian’s look like the people that are doing their best but in reality we are part of the problem.

Ginseng Tea and a Pair of Thongs  by Haitha Lee

The author presents a stark portrayal of an immigrant family from Vietnam surviving the slums in an attempt to transition into their new lives.

What is most confronting about the story is the raw objective style that the author employs. This description of Em suffering from allergies, a relatively minor difficulty, exemplifies the authors tendency to exaggerate the pain felt in this family. 'Her dull eyes, the white no longer white, the black with yellow...' This is a haunting description of a group of people suffering through their new life. This challenges the cliched version of the immigrant experience that usually include a narrative of hard work and perseverance triumphing.

Continuing with this stark writing style is the brutal honesty the author employs. The description of Youngest Con 'abnormally curious about sex' and possessing a brain hat 'thinks of being a lady' gives access deep into the psyche of the immigrant. This honesty is again confronting. It challenges the cliched representation of immigrants as quiet and reserved inside their new worlds. Here we have a family full of struggle both externally and internally.

The importance of this story is that it removes the veneer of the immigrant experience. It doesn't beg for sympathy or admiration but rather attempts to show the suffering that the immigrant transition often brings. The result is that the reader is left jaw agape wondering how people chose to live and made it through such experiences.