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Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering

"a powerful commentary on motherhood...celebrates the uniqueness of biracial children" - The Telegraph (UK)

"Tres relevant." - Motherworld.blog

"Like everything Kamata has written and edited, this collection reveals to its readers new ways of seeing family, that always perplexing and intriguing concept." - mamazine.com

"For any family that is living abroad or is planning to move abroad, this book offers superlative insight into the issues and challenges that families may face and is a must read for BOTH parents." - J-Select Magazine

"In Call Me Okaasan, Suzanne Kamata and her troupe of gifted writers take us on a worldwide tour of motherhood across cultures, each stop an unflinching look into one mother's efforts to shepherd her children through unfamiliar territory. Prepare to laugh, cringe, cry, and cheer on these women, and know that their poignant stories will stay with you long after you've turned the last page." - Rebecca S. Ramsey, author of FRENCH BY HEART: AN AMERICAN FAMILY'S ADVENTURES IN LA BELLE FRANCE

"Spans not only the width of the proverbial womb, but also the width of the world. Each piece in this timely, lovingly honed collection has much to teach about parenting across cultural and cartographic lines. What I like most about the book is its ability to transition effortlessly between emotional personal confession, to clear-sighted global observation, and back again. CALL ME OKAASAN should be kept on the most accessible bookshelf. Mothers of all stripes will retrieve it often." - Chandra Prasad, author of ON BORROWED WINGS, editor and orginator of MIXED: AN ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT FICTION ON THE MULTIRACIAL EXPERIENCE

"The Earth-deep essays provided in this book help mothers the world over to remember their roots while celebrating motherhood from the mountains of Kyrgyzstan to the farmlands of rural Japan. Motherhood, in any language, is deeply challenging. Doing so with transplanted roots adds a whole new layer of meaning to the experience. Bravo to these brave women in showing a most truthful side to expat motherhood!" - Christine Louise Hohlbaum, Author, SAHM I AM: TALES FROM A STAY-AT-HOME MOM IN EUROPE.


What happens when your child doesn't speak your native language? How do you maintain cultural traditions while living outside your native country? How can you raise a child with two cultures without fracturing his/her identity?

From our house, to your house, to the White House, more and more mothers are facing questions such as these. Whether through inter-cultural marriage, internaitonal adoption or peripatetic lifestyles, modern families are increasingly multicultural. In this collection, women around the world ponder the unique joys and challenges of raising children across two or more cultures.

Contributors include Susannah Elisabeth Pabot, Saffia Farr, Violeta Garcia-Mendoza, Leza Lowitz, Katherine Barrett, Stacy M. Lewis, Anjali Enjeti-Sydow, Angela Turzynski-Azimi, Michele Corkery, Kathy Hamilton, Holly Thompson, Corey Heller, Dee Thompson, Kate MacVean, Juli Herman, Rose Kent, Devorah Lifshutz, Xujun Eberlein, Andrea Martins and Marie Lamba.