It’s 1971, and 7-year-old Mishel Manoucherian’s family has packed up their life in Tehran and moved to Los Angeles, launching him headfirst into a disorienting new world of social and schoolyard expectations. At once a witty and warm exploration of the immigrant journey and coming of age tale, American Playground illuminates the Iranian American experience through a child’s unique perspective.
Armed with a handful of English words, a fiery mother who uses her biting wit to open doors and inspire fear while shunning all things Amrikayi, and an adventurous dad who clumsily chases the Amrikayi Dream, Mishel tries to crack the code of schoolyard politics that feels equal parts Brady Bunch and Lord of the Flies.
His brown skin gets him thrown in with the school’s outcasts, but Mishel wants to run with the Pros – longhaired kids who rule the blacktop in faded Levi’s and Pro Keds, radiating the casual yet rugged essence of 70’s California Cool. Desperate for a mentor to unravel this dizzying American life, Mishel recruits Bugs Bunny, the only Amrikayi he trusts. Mishel will do whatever it takes to become Amrikayi. He’ll have to do it on the only true Amrikayi turf – the playground.
Full of heart, humor and insight, American Playground explores the tensions between assimilation and identity, a child’s desperation to pass as one of many, and the age-old conflict between Bugs Bunny and everyone who’s out to “kill the wabbit.” Bringing a fresh perspective to classic genres, Shokrian’s writing recalls the honesty and ferocity of classic Los Angeles writers Fante and Bukowski, with a modern immigrant’s twist. $4.99 on Kindle.
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