Mott Street
A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming
Ava Chin
- **“Essential
- reading
- for
- understanding
- not
- just
- Chinese
- American
- history
- but
- American
- history—and
- the
- American
- present.”
- —Celeste
- Ng,
- #1
- bestselling
- author
- of
- Little
- Fires
- Everywhere*
- TIME
- 100
- Must-Read
- Books
- of
- 2023
- *
- San
- Francisco
- Chronicle's
- Favorite
- Nonfiction
- *
- Kirkus
- Best
- Nonfiction
- of
- 2023
- *
- Winner
- of
- the
- Chinese
- American
- Librarians
- Association
- Best
- Non-Fiction
- Book
- Prize
- *
- Library
- Journal
- Best
- Memoir
- and
- Biography
- of
- 2023
- *
- One
- of
- Elle's
- Best
- Memoirs
- of
- 2023
- (So
- Far)
- *
- An
- ALA
- Notable
- Book
- *“The
- Angela’s
- Ashes
- for
- Chinese
- Americans.”
- —Miwa
- Messer,
- Poured
- Over
- podcast**As
- 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.
- Mott
- Street
- 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.Breaking
- 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.In
- 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.Gorgeously
- written,
- deeply
- researched,
- and
- tremendously
- resonant,
- Mott
- Street
- uncovers
- a
- legacy
- of
- exclusion
- and
- resilience
- that
- speaks
- to
- the
- American
- experience,
- past
- and present.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
