{"product_id":"mott-street-a-chinese-american-familys-story-of-exclusion-and-homecoming-chin-ava-hardcover","title":"Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming -- Ava Chin, Hardcover","description":"\u003cb\u003eA sweeping narrative history of the Chinese Exclusion Act through an intimate portrayal of one family's epic journey to lay down roots in America\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs the only child of a single mother in Queens, Ava Chin found her family's origins to be shrouded in mystery. She had never met her father, and her grandparents' stories didn't match the history she read at school. \u003ci\u003eMott Street\u003c\/i\u003e traces Chin's quest to understand her Chinese American family's story. Over decades of painstaking research, she finds not only her father but also the building that provided a refuge for them all. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBreaking the silence surrounding her family's past meant confronting the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882--the first federal law to restrict immigration by race and nationality, barring Chinese immigrants from citizenship for six decades. Chin traces the story of the pioneering family members who emigrated from the Pearl River Delta, crossing an ocean to make their way in the American West of the mid-nineteenth century. She tells of their backbreaking work on the transcontinental railroad and of the brutal racism of frontier towns, then follows their paths to New York City. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn New York's Chinatown she discovers a single building on Mott Street where so many of her ancestors would live, begin families, and craft new identities. She follows the men and women who became merchants, \"paper son\" refugees, activists, and heads of the Chinese tong, piecing together how they bore and resisted the weight of the Exclusion laws. She soon realizes that exclusion is not simply a political condition but also a personal one. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGorgeously written, deeply researched, and tremendously resonant, \u003ci\u003eMott Street\u003c\/i\u003e uncovers a legacy of exclusion and resilience that speaks to the American experience, past and present.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ava Chin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penguin Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/25\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 400\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.35lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780525557371\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2022 pg. 18\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2023 pg. 5\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2023 pg. 143\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/15\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/03\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAva Chin \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of \u003ci\u003eEating Wildly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ewinner of the Les Dames d'Escoffier International M.F.K. Fisher Book Prize. Her writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Village Voice\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSaveur\u003c\/i\u003e. She is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the New York Public Library's Cullman Center, the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York Institute for the Humanities, and the Asian American Writers' Workshop. She is an associate professor of creative nonfiction at the City University of New York.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chin, Ava","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43967453004004,"sku":"9780525557371","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0611\/9587\/8628\/files\/513IUl8-ltL_a2713a62-151d-47c0-8d3d-783c270970ef.jpg?v=1719484765","url":"https:\/\/bookandmortar.com\/products\/mott-street-a-chinese-american-familys-story-of-exclusion-and-homecoming-chin-ava-hardcover","provider":"BookandMortar","version":"1.0","type":"link"}