ALIEN NATION edited by Sofija Stefanovic offers "36 True Tales of Immigration" which were originally performed on stage. This fascinating read manages to humanize the immigrant experience across any number of circumstances and cultures and between a variety of countries. One common theme is belonging and struggling to find a sense of identity. As one contributor says, "as a family of asylum seekers, the concept of home was broken from the very beginning." Another points out, "In Indonesia I was Chinese, and in China I was Indonesian. I ended up feeling like I belonged nowhere." The resiliency of the contributors is truly inspirational. Some of the content and phrasing is mature and this text would work best with adult readers.

This book is a great addition to libraries, featuring 36 different viewpoints, snippets into various lives mostly growing up an immigrant. Although there is diversity in where the authors come from, or their parents, most now call themselves New Yorkers. A few are Australian, either first or second generation.

They are mostly tales that were first performed as stand-up at Joe's Club in NYC, but not all. The book was borne out of the pandemic, an attempt to replicate what happened there, but for a larger audience.

Personally, I think the book would work better as a podcast or audiobook, with each author telling their story, something closer to the original format. But the book as it stands does have a place and I’m happy to have read it.

Not living in a large city, I was not aware of this type of venue. The stories here are the perfect length and diversity to be used in the classroom, but the fact that they come from a stand-up performance adds another dynamic to them completely. I also appreciate the introduction to so many new authors and plan to track down some of their other works.

Thank you to Sofija Stefanovic, HarperVia, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my gosh, I needed this book! I appreciate the effort that went into “translating” spoken word performances onto paper. I discovered several artists whose stories I clicked with. (I’ve since read Abeer Y. Hoque’s Olive Witch, a memoir I would not have known about if not for Alien Nation.)

It feels like there is something in this collection of stories for anyone who enjoys spoken word performances, comedy, and learning about someone else’s perspective. (The latter is something I value.)

I highly recommend this collection to readers, especially fans of “Own Voices” nonfiction, seeking new authors to read.

Alien Nation: A Celebration of Immigration from the Stage to the Page is an anthology of 36 true stories of immigration. There is a wide variety of voices, backgrounds, and visions. The one common thread is the desire to belong within America and the sense that no matter how hard an immigrant tries, they may never be able to accomplish this.

The voices of these stories are so strong. Their stories are group thematically into seven sections which I felt helped better organize the anthology. The stories are filled with humor, strength, trauma, and emotion. There is no one voice that is similar to another. The diversity within this anthology is strong and helps break down immigrants into less monolithic groups and instead treats them as individuals.

The individuals who tell their story within this anthology are so courageous. I was deeply humbled by reading their stories and learning about their struggles and their victories. So many of these types of stories are never told and this is a shame. They really are the foundation of America as a country no matter how many people try to deny it. It was also obvious to me that there were alot of mixed emotions that were being brought forth by the election of the 45th president of the United States.

Alien Nation has 36 stories that are important and bring something forward that we can reflect on. Some of the stories are more upbeat and filled with joy while some of the stories are a bit more critical and heartbreaking. I enjoyed reading all of them and would recommend that others give themselves the same opportunity. It definitely gives you a new perspective regarding our ever growing and changing nation.

I thoroughly enjoy hearing someone’s story in their own words. It’s why I am so drawn to biographies.

These stories share the wide variety of the emotions, experiences, and receptions found after immigrating.
Reading the lived experience of individuals living outside of their country of birth is truly something special – that they’ve chosen to share with us the ups and downs of the reality of their choices. Sometimes leaving “home” is a push out and sometimes it is a pull from. Either way, it is a choice to be made and a devil to deal with. Is the devil you know (“home”) better or worse than the devil (the new location) you don’t know?

Reading these experiences, good and bad, makes me want to hug each individual.
It also makes me want to shake so many people of their narrow-minded views based in racism, classism, elitism, all the other -isms. There are so many similarities across the globe that far outweigh our differences, which is clearly shown in the echoes throughout these stories regardless of the place of origin or the destination.

Favorite Stories
A Little Tattle-Tale Around the Nannying Gig: by Christine Yvette Lewis
Three Decades of Unsolicited Fashion Advice from a Migrant Mother: by Alice Pung
Mortar, Porcelain, Brick: by Kay Iguh
Don’t Follow Your Dreams (Especially, the American Dream): by Emma Ramos

I definitely recommend this book and would have loved to see these stories performed on stage.
Stars 3.5
Would I Recommend? Yes

Alien Nation is an enlightening glimpse at the varied lives and experiences of immigrants. Prepare to laugh, cry, and be inspired by stories as diverse as the people sharing them.
The book's origin as a performance series lives on in the short format of each story, which works to make it easily accessible to all readers. It's the kind of book that you can pick up when you have a few minutes, read a chapter/story, and walk away to think about it. Or, like me, you could fly through all the stories in awe of the varied life experiences being shared.
I wish this book would be added to reading lists for all ages, just so that more people can have the chance to see how all our differences only make the things we have in common more important.

Many happy thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for the illuminating read!

I personally didn't enjoy this book, even though I really wanted to. Personally, if I'm reading a non-fiction book based on a person's real experiences, I want some imagery included, that way I can feel as if I'm relating to them.

I automatically will pick up any anthology or collection or essays/short stories - it's just usually something I love, regardless of genre - and this was no exception.

There were a few stories that I was less invested in - only because the writing/speaking style wasn't as engaging - but thankfully those were just sprinkled throughout. However, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and hearing stories about finding community, battling xenophobia, learning a new culture and norms, staying connected to family back home and more.

I wanted to love this book (as I generally adore the stories of immigration) but it just fell flat for me. Aside from the few LGBTQIA+ essays and one where the family settled in Erie, PA (local to me) none of them really stood out. Overall I’d give it 2.5 stars.

This is a deeply moving collection of stories of immigrants in this nation. This is a must add to collections for schools and public libraries alike!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Alien Nation is a collection of 36 stories of immigrants from all over the world told on stage in NYC. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the stories. Some were funny, some were deeply moving, all were eye opening and worthy of our time. Two of my favorites were True Identity and A Little Tattle-Tale Around the Nannying Gig.

In True Identity, Tatenda Ngwara tells her story as an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe. She was forced out of her country when she started advocating for intersex and transgender people. Her father gave her his last dollar so she could “go somewhere she will be accepted as a human and a citizen who deserves human rights.” She tells of the struggles and roadblocks of being an asylum seeker in America who is also a Black woman who is intersex. “The only way we can break down barriers is to familiarize people with what it means to be intersex. It is biological. It is not a choice.”

In A Little Tattle-Tale Around the Nannying Gig, Christine Yvette Lewis tells her story of moving to into her sister’s home in The Bronx from Trinidad and Tobago to seek a better life for herself and her daughter. She speaks deftly about caregivers knowing their worth after finding a community with the other nannies at a Central Park playground.

Sofija Stefanovic hosted "This Alien Nation," a regular storytelling event in Joe's Pub in NYC, where immigrants came to tell stories about their lives as migrants. The rotating cast of this show told stories that for Stefanovic were "a balm, a way of feeling less lonely." In the show and this compilation of stories told at Joe's Pub, she aims to remind us that "immigration is not simply a word thrown around in the news...but a world rich with unique voices, perspectives and experiences." In this book, Stefanovic shares 36 of these stories. While the stories range in tone - they'll make you laugh and they'll break your heart, they all bring something special to the table.

Here are two of my favorite stories:
**Laura Gómez, famous as Blanca in Orange is the New Black, writes about how she stops for lunch in this conservative-run B&B where Fox News was playing and the "Boss Lady" spoke of sons working for ICE. Instead of blasting the woman for her beliefs and trying to change her mind (as she very much wanted to do), she listened and connected, acting as a "decent human being who defied whatever stereotypes she has been fed...leav[ing] her thinking, Well, that Dominican lady was actually pretty nice."

**In another story, Mazin Sidahmed describes his family WhatsApp Group and how it provides the "closest thing..to the dinner table" as his family members live across the world. As they share stories, memes, and conversation, it helps keep him rooted throughout life's hard times.

Other stories include: A Mexican girl who grappled with her idea of the "American Dream" on a trip to Disneyland, a story about the role of pets in their life from their current dog back to their eight-year-old robo-dog toy, a woman seeking a limpia from a Dominican Santera in the Bronx, which left her feeling clean and free, and a guy who moved from NY back to Puerto Rico as an 8-year-old and had to come to terms with his Americanization.

The stories within represent a wide variety of national & ethnic backgrounds, and many voices bringing up stories of belonging and home, of trauma and emotion, of Americans who are welcoming and those who are discriminatory and even violent, of the comedy of life and its raw moments, and of all sorts of moments that they've overcome or are still battling with.

Admittedly, this many short stories makes the book difficult to devour as the voices are constantly shifting - for me, it read better in small increments. The chapters are grouped thematically in 7 sections, but the concept of organization wasn't always clear. Overall, this collectivity of voices helps break views of immigrants as monolithic, and this book stretches your mind to see this. Kudos to Stefanovic and the 35 authors who join her for sharing their stories and their voices with us!