Just The Basics
Published: May 7, 2024
Genre: Nonfiction
Pages: 368
Acknowledgements: Winner of the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award
"Who is going to remember them? It is a simple question that has a simple answer. We all will."
"Rising from the Ashes" is a nonfiction book about the 1992 Los Angeles uprising. However, while the destruction and loss of life in May of 1992 was triggered by the not-guilty verdict of the police officers involved in the beating of Rodney Glen King, Yoo contextualizes the civil unrest in the grater context of systematic racism, media bias, and supposed Korean-Black tensions in LA begining in the thrid wave of Koren immagration to California, to the flashpoint of Sa I Gu (the korean name for the LA "riots"). Now, more than 30 years later, Sa I Gu is shown to be much more than about Rodney King's beating, as Yoo memorializes the tragic death of Latasha Harlins and Eddy Song Lee, as other pivotal moments in Los Angeles's struggles with police violence, redlining, and economic segregation. From The Ashes tells the story of many people in Los Angeles gaining a sense of national identity, building strong cross-ethic relationships, and pushing for systemic changes in the wake of civil unrest. A profound period of change, all facilitated by the loss of life of the three individuals named in the work's title.
Why "Rising from the Ashes"?
Rising from the Ashes was the winner of the 2024 YALSA award for Excellence in Nonfiction, and I was intrigued by the subject matter. I was born in Colorado in 1996, and knew next to nothing about the LA "riots", the Watts "riots", or how Rodney King's story continued past the infamy of his police beating. I am, of course, aware of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest, participating in the Denver march myself, and I had yet to understand the longer historical context of how policy brutality has been received by the American public. This book read as an educated, compassionate, and detailed account of how Korean-Black relationships were tumultuous in the decade of my birth, how redlining had pushed desperate people of color in LA to build gangs, and how the LA Times and other media institutions unfairly shaped the coverage of the King Case, the Harlins case, and the Song Lee case in a way that has muddled their cultural relivance. Even as systematic racism plagues the institution of policing across America, Yoo uses the lens of Sa I Gu to contextualize how violence, protest, and rebellion in LA shaped both the Korean-American communities and the Black communities nationwide.
Teaching Considerations
Whenever I read a nonfiction book for this list, I always think that these works would work equally well in a social studies class, along with my own in ELA. Rising from the Ashes is no expectation. This work is both as factual as it is compassionate, as informative as it is moving. There is some strong language and anti-police sentiment; however, these only exist in the testimonies from this difficult time and stem from reasonable frustration with racism and racist systems. This novel would work well for whole-class study, and with the complexity of the Latasha Harlins case in particular, would be best for older readers. This book is not hard to read in terms of its prose, but is frustrating to read due to its topical focus. Yoo's book would work best with ample support from the teacher and plenty of whole-class discussions to dissect the issues presented. Where this book shines is its contemporality; published in 2024, Yoo's work connects the Sa I Gu with modern issues of racism, Black Lives Matter, and even the COVID pandemic.
` Sections to Read Aloud & Reasoning
- Chapter 8: Flashpoint, Page 235
- "'It hurt my heart," she said. "I cried. I cried really hard. Like, wow. It made me see how American really is."
- ''Afterwards, as Williams headed home, people saw Hirara's blood on his shirt and assumed the actor, who was Black, had been attacked. "It dawned on me that they could not tell his blood from mine," Williams said. "And so ultimately, when it comes down to it, we are the same.'"
Overall Thoughts
Rising from the Ashes barely felt like YA nonfiction. Even with a simplistic writing style meant for a young audience, Yoo's work reads like a very thoughtful journalistic exposé on the 1990s in LA and how the racial tensions arose in the region. This book was powerful, giving each of those injured or killed their remembrance and recognition. I was struck by how humaizing Yoo's retelling of history was, and how much space was held for both the Korean and Black sides of the conflict. This book is written without bias; the emphasis on love, respect, and community is clear. This book modernizes the Sa I Gu era in Los Angeles and gives space for contemplation for all those hurt, without shying away from the facts of police brutality, while still showing the depth of life those who were lost had before their untimely passing. For me, all the way here in Colorado, I knew nothing of this struggle or this time; however, I can now clearly see how important this civil unrest is in an era of modern police reform. For students, this book would be just as informative and powerful as it was for me.
Future Explorations
I love how Paula Yoo writes and researches. As a Korean-American woman who never learned to speak Korean, this book was a personal look from the author at her own history that allowed for deep nuance and care for the subject. I want to read more of Yoo's work, and I found her approach to nonfiction and journalistic writing both captivating and strong. I'd love to read more of her work and find ways to implement her words into my classroom. Even though I might not always have the space for nonfiction books about historical events in my ELA classroom, I think her narrative style works so well to capture human stories. I will have to find a way to allow her words to reach my students.
This title is so interesting. Last year, my middle school library presented "Troublemaker", by John Cho as our All School Reads title, and this book was one of the "Want More?" titles that we recommended to support learning more about the LA Riots.
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