Angelica's A-POP Blog

1. Miss Lien
   1. P. 6
      1. The adult’s reaction had been different…and feet to enrich and strengthen the family.
         1. My grandmother experienced this when my uncle was born, fathered from an affair instead of my grandfather.
   2. P. 8
      1. The midwife spread her lips, revealing black-lacquered teeth.
         1. I wasn’t aware that Vietnamese woman also lacquered their teeth. I only knew about Japanese women performing this practice.
   3. P. 15
      1. I wasn’t either. And I won’t be for much longer. But it’s nice to eat.
         1. I feel so bad for these women that sell their bodies as incubators so that they can eat and have a life for themselves. I understand that sometimes that’s the best they can do, but I wish it wasn’t.
   4. P. 19 – 20
      1. You better stop flirting with those white…lost too many of our girls to them.
         1. I hate this behavior and act so much. In many cultures, including my grandmother’s, all of the men get so fucking jealous when someone outside of your race flirts with you, you with them, or even having them look at you. Like, it’s not someone’s fault if they get stared that, but this insecurity is so dangerous.
            
2. We Should Never Meet
   1. P. 30
      1. When she was sure the woman was fully occupied…the beeper behind her, tucking it into her underwear.
         1. Of all the things to steal, even if she broke her boyfriend’s, a beeper has to be one of the most annoying clunky things to steal. Besides its small size, the only places I’ve seen handle beepers are just hospitals for a quick message, rather than standard texting.
   2. P. 32
      1. It gave a clue to how the next few months or years…those were the homes that took forever to get out of.
         1. I’ve seen this same example used by YouTubers or public speakers in today’s world. If your parents were hard on you, it’s because they actually cared about you. If they didn’t let you do whatever you want, be your friend rather than a parent, you tend to end up worse in life.
   3. P. 40
      1. Kimmy! a deep voice yelled. So many of them spread…where several hands playfully grabbed for her ankles.
         1. I’m happy to say that I skipped OVER this time of my life. No friends over to make this kind of mess and now in my own house, it’s the kind of clean up that I’m avoiding until I have kids.
   4. P. 53
      1. He’d turn her into every foster mother, every teacher, every boss who once sneered at them, who told them they’d turn out to be nothing. And now look: they weren’t nothing. They were 354. They’d show her.
         1. I feel for Kim in her pain at this moment, but not the logic that she comes to. Showing someone that you’ll become someone in life by stealing from them, breaking the law, not becoming a stable member of society, that is being nothing. The greatest revenge is living better than the life they set for you. That’s not what she’s doing in these moments.
3. The Delta
   1. P. 59
      1. There were four or five infants tangled in every crib. Smells…arms and legs Truc fought the impulse to recoil.
         1. In so many cases like these, the babies, unfortunately, end up dying together and spread diseases at a much higher rate. Save one baby from a crib full of dead ones and it could infect a healthy crib. “A rotten apple spoils the batch,” situation. 
   2. P. 67
      1. It’s just a stupid bird. It was born to die. Now put your hands…wondered what thoughts cowered behind them.
         1. This rather disturbing scene reminds me of the first time I saw a chicken being killed. What makes it worse is that I raised my chickens from birth and then saw my father take their lives by swinging them around their necks till they snapped, watched them flop around the yard, and then cut their heads off.
   3. P. 70
      1. As the youngest children of prosperous families, it would…the poverty that most of their countrymen suffered.
         1. I completely agree with Truc’s and Phuong’s parents. I don’t plan on having my children attend any kind of private school growing up. They need to see the world from all sides.
   4. P. 72-73
      1. We couldn’t afford to bring formula in case it spoiled, so we…the main road. Where are we going? We’re getting milk.
         1. God, I don’t even know how to react to this section other than to show disgust and resentment towards Phuong. She cares about having children in her care, but not the overall health of those children.
4. Visitors
   1. P. 89
      1. Food markets in the States used disposable plastic sacks for groceries, instead of the sturdy cardboard boxes provided in Vietnam.
         1. I think in Japan I was given plastic bags as well, or solid reusable bags at some stores. 
   2. P. 97-98
      1. We spend so much energy and time on the larger issues…not to spend with her because I will never have it back.
         1. I remember after Trump’s election that friends started to turn on each other, couples breaking up, and singles asking what someone’s political party is before a first date. The world turned on its head for that whole first year, all because of one man. 
   3. P. 99-101
      1. Holding the necklace up to eye level, Bac Nguyen took the boy’s…got a thrill out of home invasions, Vinh realized, still found them fun.
         1. I hate Vinh for the rest of the book after this moment. To be shown so much kindness after a life of misery and being treated poorly by adults, you would think that he would cherish this. Instead, he plans to spit in Bac’s face.
   4. P. 107
      1. Enough so they won’t think about calling the police afterward, though…understand their accents anyway, would be any better.
         1. Taking advantage of a community’s vulnerability IS NOT an asset.
5. Gates of Saigon
   1. P. 116
      1. After securing the babies in their carriers, they stood aside while…the disease and death crept around the children.
         1. How can someone be numb to the death of a child? Especially when it’s their mission to save and protect these young souls. 
   2. P. 122
      1. Hoa walked up to the nursery, where Bridget and Steven stood hunched over…responsibility. They knew how it felt. He would not leave her.
         1. I know that the baby’s past orphanage gave her away in hopes of a better life, but to have her taken away for this chance when she’s so close to death’s door, seems more like a reflief on the orphanage’s sanity, than the baby’s wellbeing.
   3. P. 127
      1. When Hoa climbed upstairs to say good-bye to Steven, she…need to get them out of here. This place will kill them.
         1. All volunteers who come to a crisis center, natural disaster, or refugee camp, come with the hope to save and heal. Not all of them, including Steven, in this case, can handle what happens if they are too late or if no comes to assist and they find the remains.
   4. P. 132
      1. The center has lists of American families willing to adopt. They want…who isn’t their own, especially if it’s not even their own race.
         1. Reminds me of the early 2000s when celebrities started to adopt black children in mass. 
6. Emancipation
   1. P. 146
      1. Mai didn’t like people looking at her. She excelled in academics not…reinvested her time and effort for more realistic ambitions.
         1. Same. I’ve never been one for makeup and usually just walk out of my house with it on. No point in putting in any of the effort if it’s not for my sake.
   2. P. 147
      1. Ultimately good, but not when you’re trying to get into an Ivy League school…realizing her life had to be worse to count for something.
         1. I find it to be tragic that your life has to be tragic to get noticed enough to receive funds. Why can’t an enjoyable life be enough?
   3. P. 152
      1. Well, they’re getting another foster kid after I leave. Really? Yeah. Mai tugged at a handful of grass. It’s not a big deal. They had another kid living there before me, too.
         1. My sisters in Japan felt the same way when we continued to host other exchange students instead of stopping with just them.
   4. P. 159
      1. Huna got so nervous around other Vietnamese-convinced since he was only half and raised by white parents, he wouldn’t know how to talk to them.
         1. I used to get the same way around other Latin children for years because they could speak Spanish and I couldn’t. My mother’s friends and their children could speak it, why couldn’t I?
7. Bound
   1. P. 176
      1. The baby lay twisted on the center’s side of the gate. The crowd started shouting…searching their stunned faces. The mother had already disappeared.
         1. At this point, I don’t know if the mother left the baby because she wanted it to have a better life or just to get rid of her.
   2. P. 188
      1. I had to, Bridget said. These children’s lives are more important to me than hamburgers.
         1. Considering Bridget’s age and the recent birth of her own child, I understand her need to be a motherly figure, but she needs to be a figure to her own child first, rather than others.
   3. P. 190
      1. It seemed unfair that he saw the splendor of Vietnam when he was there to fight, while his wife only saw the suffering, and she was there to help.
         1. Similar to tourists visiting any country. They only come to witness the best and not the reality or local perspective.
   4. P. 194
      1. What about the orphans in America? Bridget started at the reporter, who was…their own culture? Their culture has rejected them. They’re outcasts here.
         1. “Reminders,” of war is such a harsh title to give these poor children. You don’t blame the children.
8. Motherland
   1. P. 215 – 216
      1. Huan feels a tug on pant leg. He peers over his sunglasses to the…shakes his head. C’mon. You rich American. Lots of dollahs.
         1. My Indian history teacher told me that she receives the same treatment every time she flies to India. The areas she flys to tend to be so rattled with poverty that everyone is trying to make money somehow.
   2. P. 218
      1. There are three U.S. war veteran buddies who never seemed…left behind their own bastard child in Vietnam. 
         1. I find it to be very rare for veterans to visit the land they fought in. In this case, I’m guessing that the veterans were never exposed to Agent Orange or have seen the effects of it.  
   3. P. 218-219
      1. Gwen claims she wants him to date regardless of color, but…to know why her race is being unilaterally rejected.
         1. My father-in-law has and may still wonder the same thing.
   4. P. 222
      1. It’s not just you, Mai says. The authorities hate overseas…around, and expect to be treated like royalty.
         1. I’ve heard of this same behavior happening to American tourists visiting places like Ireland and Scotland. “You abandoned your people! Why bother coming back?” 

~ by Angelica Perez on May 20, 2019 . Tagged: Assignment, Talking Points