Definitely Hispanic

February 1, 2019

Having grown up in the United States with immigrant parents, James found his family life differing from those of his friends, which gave him material for the videos that led to his huge online success. Here he celebrates growing up Hispanic, moving between Puerto Rico and the United States (#Home), and buying his parents the home he thought they deserved (#TheHouse). With a 50,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2019
Used widely by government demographers, the term Hispanic is considered derogatory by some for its emphasis on the homogenizing legacy of Spanish colonialism. But the term can also serve to characterize certain cultural phenomena that many people from Latin America and the Caribbean will recognize, like the Flying Chancla and quincea�eras, two embodiments of Hispanic culture embraced by the author, a wildly popular online video creator who has built a following of two-million by posting comedic clips about his experience growing up with parents from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Despite a compelling childhood story about moving from New England to Puerto Rico, then to Florida and back again, James collapses a lot of what makes Latin American cultures uniquely beautiful into broad generalizations about family and food, while occasionally trafficking in problematic stereotypes ("Hispanic women are not easy. Don't be confused by their sexy outfits and endless curves"). Even so, this humorous guidebook is sure to be sought out by James' devout followers, who will likely recognize a lot of themselves in his observations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)