{"product_id":"which-side-are-you-on-isbn-9781646221486","title":"Which Side Are You On","description":"\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the PEN\/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow can we live with integrity and pleasure in this world of police brutality and racism?\u003c\/i\u003e An Asian American activist is challenged by his mother to face this question in this powerful—and funny—debut novel of generational change, a mother’s secret, and an activist’s coming-of-age\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwenty-one-year-old Reed is fed up. Angry about the killing of a Black man by an Asian American NYPD officer, he wants to drop out of college and devote himself to the Black Lives Matter movement. But would that truly bring him closer to the moral life he seeks?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a series of intimate, charged conversations, his mother—once the leader of a Korean-Black coalition—demands that he rethink his outrage, and along with it, what it means to be an organizer, a student, an ally, an American, and a son. As Reed zips around his hometown of Los Angeles with his mother, searching and questioning, he faces a revelation that will change everything.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInspired by his family’s roots in activism, Ryan Lee Wong offers an extraordinary debut novel for readers of Anthony Veasna So, Rachel Kushner, and Michelle Zauner: a book that is as humorous as it is profound, a celebration of seeking a life that is both virtuous and fun, an ode to mothering and being mothered.\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the PEN\/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNamed a Best Book by NPR, \u003ci\u003eBustle\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDebutiful\u003c\/i\u003e, and more\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, A Most Anticipated Fall Debut\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Wong’s main characters are wonderfully crafted and deeply human in their fallibility . . . Wong blends the backdrop of L.A. artfully and meaningfully into the novel . . . At its best, which it frequently is, \u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On \u003c\/i\u003ebears the distinction of telling a story for and of our times, asking difficult, but necessary, questions of its narrator and readers alongside him.\" —Jung Yun, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A thought-provoking and poignant coming-of-age story.\" —\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ryan Lee Wong has taken on the challenge of writing a self-aware, critical version of the protest novel with his debut \u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On\u003c\/i\u003e—a slim work that is literally about protests and activism, that manages to interrogate both the rigidity of movements and the complacency that can find its way into them . . . \u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On \u003c\/i\u003etakes racial justice and the need for activism seriously [and] charts how the real work of activism comes not from merely announcing what you stand for and against, but from empathy grounded in understanding how much you still have to learn.\" —Kristen Martin,\u003ci\u003e The New Republic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A sharply observed story of an earnest Asian American activist considering dropping out of college to dedicate himself to organizing . . . the story, both moving and funny, is sure to speak powerfully to the many who struggle to find hope and joy in an unjust world.\" —Lisa Wong Macabasco, \u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A blistering send-up of youthful pretension and pseudo-activism . . . Wong’s pace is quick and dialogue driven and actually in the service of a moving coming-of-age tale . . . An assured debut novel that gets at the heart of why saying the right thing—hell, even doing the right thing—isn’t always enough.\" —J. Howard Rosier, \u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This book! In Ryan Lee Wong's hard-hitting and witty novel, two generations of Asian American political activists negotiate their relationships with movements, history, L.A., and one another. Wong handles his narrator's earnestness with understated brilliance—especially when he skewers that very same sincerity. Sure to spark conversations.” —YZ Chin, \u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Told with the witty brio of our narrator’s youth, \u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On \u003c\/i\u003emarks the arrival of an electric new voice.\" —Adrienne Westenfeld, \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Wong handles the characterization of Reed perfectly to make the novel fun to read. He puts Reed's social justice jargon-laden thoughts in dialogue, never in narration. Other characters challenge Reed's ideas and make fun of his vocabulary. This introduces playfulness to a story with heavy themes, and allows Reed to grow toward an authentic moment of transformation as he realizes there usually isn't just one right side to be on.\" —Jenny Shank, \u003ci\u003eStar Tribune (Minneapolis)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On \u003c\/i\u003eis a swift, funny, polemical primer on Los Angeles, Asian American history, and cross-racial organizing.\" —Esther Kim, \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Extremely important . . . A great novel about what it means to be an activist, what it means to be a son, what it means to be an American . . . This is the beginning of a stellar career.\" —WAMC \u003ci\u003eThe Roundtable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It’s heartbreaking, but at times hilarious. The book knocks down stereotypes given to a community by the media and invites readers in with open arms. It’s a book America has needed for a very long time.\" —\u003ci\u003eDebutiful\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Using electric dialogue, Wong gives the narrative its forward momentum, and expands its scope across time and generations by raising questions of morality and social responsibility in the face of injustice and privilege and by examining historical moments that speak to the importance of cross-racial solidarity.\" —Bareerah Ghani, \u003ci\u003eElectric Literature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What does it look like to devote your life to activism? How can you be a good, authentic ally to others? How can you lead a happy life when your life’s work is so wrapped up in trauma and systemic oppression? These are some of the big and timely questions that carry us through Ryan Lee Wong’s debut . . .You’ll feel like you’re right there in Los Angeles, a fly on the wall of these important conversations. But this is not a strictly somber novel by any means! It’s a wonderful balancing act, tackling serious topics with humor and heart.\" —Katie Yee, A \u003ci\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/i\u003e Most Anticipated Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Full of vibrant characters, this punchy story [...] offers no simple answers to ongoing racial conflicts. The portrait of a sanctimonious young man who wakes up to the reality of generational trauma and well-meaning failure is spot-on. Truly, a book for the contemporary moment. Ryan Lee Wong's dynamite debut novel weaves timely issues of racism and protest—and much nuance—into a pacy, funny story of generational differences and idealism versus cynicism.\" —\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A profound and nuanced bildungsroman . . . This daring and generous work is sure to spark difficult but necessary conversations.\" —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The novel feels like an updated, more socially aware \u003ci\u003eLess Than Zero \u003c\/i\u003e. . . A promising coming-of-(political)-age debut.\" —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ryan Lee Wong has managed to write a superb, beautifully crafted political novel free of didacticism and full of humor, pathos, and insight. The first half had me laughing out loud; the second half left me terrified, discomfited, and self-reflective. In his quest to find a golden age of interracial solidarity, Reed, the main protagonist, discovers through his parents’ surprising history and wisdom, valuable political lessons about choices, sacrifice, friendship, family, and the enormous challenge of building genuine alliances. And for anyone who still believes identities are discrete, fixed, one-dimensional, and easily legible, this book is the cure.\" —Robin D. G. Kelley, author of \u003ci\u003eFreedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Blasting easily woke platitudes, this honest, hilarious, and deeply healing novel gets at the heartbreaking core of building connections between families and friends, and solidarities within and between racial communities. For years I've been waiting for a novel like Ryan Lee Wong's \u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On\u003c\/i\u003e, and I urge everyone to read it. It is an astonishing debut.\" —Cathy Park Hong, author of \u003ci\u003eMinor Feelings\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Sharp, fast-moving, and often hilarious, \u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On \u003c\/i\u003eis a must-read: a story of Asian American relationships—familial, intergenerational, and otherwise—through the lens of Black-Asian histories, community organizing, and radical politics.\" —Lisa Ko, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Leavers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Salty, funny, angry, and heartbreaking, \u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On \u003c\/i\u003esynthesizes the struggles of a family that has been working and hoping for a better world for two, maybe three, generations, and in the process, renews our sense of the histories involved—American history, Korean American history, Black history, Los Angeles history. This is a stunning debut, but also a novel I didn't know I was waiting for.\" —Alexander Chee, author of \u003ci\u003eHow to Write an Autobiographical Novel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eRYAN LEE WONG\u003c\/b\u003e was born and raised in Los Angeles, lived for two years at Ancestral Heart Zen Temple, and currently lives in Brooklyn, where he is the administrative director of Brooklyn Zen Center. Previously, he served as program director for the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and managing director of Kundiman. He has organized exhibitions and written extensively on the Asian American movements of the 1970s. He holds an MFA in fiction from Rutgers University–Newark. \u003ci\u003eWhich Side Are You On \u003c\/i\u003eis his first book.","brand":"Catapult","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233851879653,"sku":"NP9781646221486","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781646221486.jpg?v=1767744098","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/which-side-are-you-on-isbn-9781646221486","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}