Islands Apart: Becoming Dominican American

by Jasminne Mendez

Presents a memoir about identity as Jasminne Mendez ultimately assumes aspects of both her parents' culture and society at large to become Dominican American.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Latinx

74 pages, Paperback

Published May 31, 2022

About the author

JASMINNE MÉNDEZ is a Macondo and Canto Mundo Fellow, as well as a Voices of Our Nations Arts (VONA) alumna. She is the author of a multi-genre memoir, Island of Dreams (2013), winner of an International Latino Book Award. She lives and works in Houston, Texas.

Reviews

[Jess Witkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jasminne Mendez is such a powerhouse. I've read other work by her and welcomed her as a guest to my library and she's just an eloquent speaker and educator, without trying to be. She has a wealth of lived knowledge that comes through in her speaking and writing. She is empathetic, understanding, forgiving, but also knows what's up. When she advocates for something, I know she is passionate about it and speaking from life.

Islands Apart is a quick read, and one that introduces young adult readers to topics of growing up biracial, implicit bias and racism, gender stereotypes, and coming of age/identity. It's a combination of poetry, prose, and essay to tell her story and both honors and condemns the female archetypes we strive for by respecting them while still working for and hoping for change to make things better for our generation and the next.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short young adult memoir about growing up as a minority in America, where English was not spoken in her home. It focused mainly on her school-aged years. I thought it was well done.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a curiously short book that presents itself as a series of short stories or essays about Mendez's "becoming Dominican American" with vignettes about travel, her period, a stillborn cousin, food, and more. It's a memoir of sorts because it doesn't quite meet the fullness of a biography and it's focus is a bit scattered but the elements are there about what it means to be "islands apart" and growing up with a cultural background to have to make sense of in another country.

[David Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Islands Apart is a memoir about growing up belonging to two different cultures. On one hand was her english-speaking American side, on the other was her spanish-speaking Dominican side. She talks about many common childhood experiences like imaginary friends and trying to live up to parental expectations. Themes of internal conflict between different cultural expectations outline much of her early life. While the book is written about Jaminne Mendez as she was younger, she interjects with her “adult voice” through several parts of the story. Recognition of some of the behaviors of her parents as reasonable, provides greater complexity in both story-telling and major thematic takeaways. There were a number of very memorable sections throughout the book in which she talks about traumatic experiences for either her, her family, or both. Her ultimate discussion of inspiration for her future exploration into writing, while not particularly inspiring to me, may resonate strongly with young-readers going through similar experiences.
The characters presented in the story weren’t well defined outside of her mother and her. Descriptions of Mendez’s mother’s motivations were largely rationalized using their shared Dominican cultural background which occasionally felt insufficiently descript. That being said, vulnerability expressed in some of the memorable stories leave you feeling a connection with Jasminne Mendez and her experiences.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mendez speaks of her experiences as an Afro Latina in the 1980’s and 1990’s, growing up in a Spanish-speaking home in Louisiana, learning English in school in Kindergarten, having an imaginary white friend and having to leave her behind when her family moves to Germany, and many memorable firsts in her life: the first boy who had a crush on her, her first experience with death, reaching puberty, and hearing Maya Angelou read her poetry – saying words meaningful to Jasminne as if from her heart.

In ten short chapters, Mendez gives an intimate look into the angst and frustration of dealing with her parents and two cultures (American and Dominican), while trying to fit into both and figure out who she is going to become. She is objective in her natural way of telling her story, as she looks back through her adult lens to point out the lessons she learned in each incident. Teenage girls – especially Latinas - will relate to many of her insecurities: the mother/daughter conflict, the restrictions regarding hygiene and healthcare, and traditions from the old country. Eight B&W photos of Mendez – some with her family – are inserted in the middle of the book.

A fine example of a memoir short enough to show teens how to write this type of literature.

Recommended for grades 7-12.

[La Crescent Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're big fans of Jasminne Mendez at La Crescent Public Library! She did a wonderful virtual storytime with us during the pandemic and kids got to learn about the Dominican Republic and how to become writers themselves! You can still catch her program on our group page!

So we had to read her new young adult memoir about growing up biracial and dealing with prejudice both in her own home and in the outside world. Her writing is a mix of poetry, prose, and essays that tackle a specific and impressionable time period of her life when she felt her culture didn't "fit" in the mainstream perceived normal. Using a blend of humorous, hard, and heartfelt moments, Mendez captures the anxiety and immediacy felt by teens.

It's a short read, but it packs a lot in about growing up and paving your own path ahead.

~Jess

[Hannah Schwager · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an official review from CLEAR, a group from SWON.

Mendez writes a collection of raw, personal stories from her life growing up as Dominican American. Relatable and compelling in many ways, her stories shows the reader snapshots of her life that overall create a coming of age story about respecting your roots and yourself. I'd recommend this book to teens looking for a shorter, nonfiction book that reads narratively.

[Dayhana Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Dominican American I saw myself in this book. I particularly liked how she weaved in stories about girlhood and womanhood. I really resonated with “The Talk” because I had a similar experiences. I did find myself wanting to know more from some of the stories but non the less I enjoyed this book.

[StylesPlenty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a beautiful memoir and glad I read it.
While reading it I realize that we have so many things in common-growing up in a Dominican household and being the oldest daughter. Growing as Dominican American had its challenges; specially those when trying to fit in when you don’t.
I can’t wait to read the rest of her books.

Rating: 4.25

[Stacy Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ I needed this young adult memoir to be twice as long. I found it deeply relatable, especially as the daughter of Haitian immigrants. The vignettes just felt a bit too scattered, and I would have loved greater character development.

[Sheri S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this little book about growing up as a Dominican American. The essays were entertaining and reflective and gave the reader a solid understanding of what Mendez experienced during her younger years.

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of essays about the author's experiences growing up as the child of immigrants.