Very honored to share this powerful praise for Hapa Tales by Rudy P. Guevarra Jr., Activist and Associate Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies at Arizona State University:
Sharon Chang’s novel is a powerful, self-reflective testimony on the complexities of racial belonging and what it means to be home. Navigating her identity across the continental U.S. and Hawai‘i, she reminds us that the fluidity of multiplicity is oftentimes confronted by the rigid expectations and ignorance of others, which lends to a deeply introspective account of what it means to be an Asian Mixed Woman in multiple settings. Chang is also quick to remind the reader of her own role both implicitly and explicitly, that comes with confronting race, racism and indignity when visiting a settler colonial island state. Hapa Tales and Other Lies is a wonderful addition to the growing body of literature of critical mixed race studies.
Among many publications, Rudy is author of Becoming Mexipino: Multiethnic Identities and Communities In San Diego (2012), co-editor of Red and Yellow, Black and Brown: Decentering Whiteness In Mixed Race Studies (2017), as well as co-editor of the newly released Beyond Ethnicity: New Politics of Race In Hawai‘i (2018). Given his vast experience and work in the field of critical mixed race studies, these words for my book are incredibly profound and important. Rudy will also be teaching Hapa Tales in his undergraduate class “Mixed Race Experiences” this fall! I am beyond grateful for the support of such a wonderful scholar and thinker.