GROWING UP CHICAGO , edited by David Schaafsma, Lauren DeJulio Bell and Roxanne Pilat, is described by the publisher (Northwestern University Press) as "a collection of coming-of-age stories that reflects the diversity of the city and its metropolitan area." Given the local connections and list of contributors which includes Samira Ahmed, Stuart Dybek, Nnedi Okorafor, and George Saunders, I was excited to browse this book. The Foreword, from Luis Alberto Urrea, notes that he and the editors are all affiliated with the University of Chicago, "involved in the literary life of this city: as teachers, as facilitators, even helping nonprofit literary outreach programs get a footing here" and originally created this book for high school or college audiences. Our students, particularly those in Senior writing classes will learn much from the varied selections. Rebecca Makkai, for example, contributed a short piece titled "Children of the Fifty-Sixers: Growing Up in Hungarian Chicago" and she readily talks about Chicago's neighborhoods; about details of the immigrant experience – such as seeing the produce section at Jewel for the first time; and about what it means to be American: "to be both from here and from away, to belong also to a land you’ve never known, to look with perpetual wonder at the lemons in the grocery store." Chicago's diversity is also reflected in an excerpt from Erika L. Sanchez's National Book Award Finalist I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and commentary ("I feel as if I grew up with three languages: English, Italian, and Chicago") from award-winning author Tony Romano and many more. Look for a copy on our shelves soon.

Most of the stories didn’t hold my attention. I’ve lived in Chicago for 20 years now & I didn’t feel the city at all in most of these stories.

“Growing Up Chicago” is a collection of short stories put together by David Schaafsma, Lauren DeJulio Bell and Roxanne Pilat. Being born and raised in Chicago, I am probably not the most of objective of critics, but I really enjoyed the different viewpoints and tales about growing up in the city. No, I did not have a lot of these experiences, but I can picture the alleys and corner stores and streets that the authors write about.

There is a wide variety of perspectives and neighborhoods captured here. Chicago has always been a blue-collar city, a city of hard-working immigrants, a city of distinct neighborhoods, and we see the effects of that on some of these stories, from African children being chased by bullies to the Mexican experience of a girl’s mother to watching a father grieve for his Palestinian homeland from afar. Yes, there is racism and ethnic hatred and assault and coming to terms as one discovers one’s sexuality, all told from those who lived through it. But mostly what comes through in these stories is the love one has for the city where one was raised, which formed the people that they have become today. Overall an empowering collection about the truly American city.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Northwestern University Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

Interesting short essays about growing up in Chicago. Some of the stories are warm, some will make you shake your head, good assortment of writing styles and subjects. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.