Six Words Fresh Off the Boat: Stories of Immigration, Identity, and Coming to America

by Larry Smith, Walt Disney Company

Six Words Fresh Off the Boat marries the phenomenon of Larry Smith's successful Six-Word Memoirs with ABC and 20th Century Fox Television's hit comedy Fresh Off the Boat. The book will capture hundreds of takes on the immigration experience, from of every-day people as well as world-famous celebrities. The creator, executive producer, and cast of "Fresh Off the Boat" will also contribute their Six-Word Memoirs.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Essays, Biography, Short Stories, Anthologies

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 5, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Larry Smith is the founder of The Six-Word Memoir® Project, a bestselling series of nine books, board game, live event program, and a global phenomenon found in classrooms, conferences, and corporate settings alike.

Larry speaks on the power of personal storytelling across the world. He has been invited to work with teams at Twitter, Levi’s, JPMorgan Chase, Snapchat, Dell, Yelp, Shutterfly, ESPN and Google; nonprofits including the Zen Hospice Project and Dress For Success, as well as foundations, philanthropies, and schools. He’s a frequent speaker at conferences such as TEDx, PopTech, Summit Series (called “Davos for the Millennials”), the AARP 50+ Convention. He teaches the class, “What’s Your Story? How to Deliver an Authentic Elevator Pitch” in private sessions and on-site at companies.

Prior to founding the Six-Word Memoir project, Larry had a robust career in journalism. He was articles editor of Men’s Journal, executive editor of Yahoo! Internet Life, senior editor at ESPN The Magazine, a founding editor of P.O.V. and editor-in-chief of its sister publication, EGG. While living in San Francisco, he was managing editor of the wire/syndication service AlterNet and an editor at Dave Eggers' Might Magazine. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, ESPN Magazine, Popular Science, Men’s Health, Salon, Slate, Buzzfeed, and has contributed essays to many anthologies, including Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit, and Devotion and The End of the Golden Gate: Writers on Loving and (Sometimes) Leaving San Francisco.

He lives in Berkeley, CA, with his wife, the writer Piper Kerman, and their son.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0

This book was fantastic!! I think the voices in this book have a lot more in common with the founders of the United States and the ideals it was built on than the people who ignorantly claim the United States as their sole birth right. What a wonderful book filled with humor, tears, inspiration, desperation and love.

[Vanessa Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of the United States is the story of immigrants intermingling. (It is also one forgotten where most of those migrants decimated native populations as well.) But, capturing the stories of immigrants in six words only is as compelling and beautiful as it is tragic.

'Six Words Fresh off the Boat' eloquently pieces together six-word narratives alongside longer stories and context, illustrating all that it means to be an American in today's anti-immigrant climate. George Takei and Chimimanda Nogozi Adichie provide shorter reflections from their own lives alongside the painful truth of undocumented DREAMers who have lived invisible lives.

'Nobody is ever just a refugee', warns Adichie. Indeed. No-one is simply 'American' regardless of how recent they arrived.

These collections are poignant reminders that America was already great. And, it will remain so as long as we cherish own rich diversity and patchwork histories rather than dismiss them in search of uniformity.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this collection of stories from people from all over the world. Clever, timely, thoughtful, and well worth a read (and a re-read).

[Shauna Yusko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another six word memoir collection. So many tie-ins with this on to books and current events.

[Melodie Pearse · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Six Words Fresh Off The Boat" features six-word stories about the experience of coming to America. You will find some to be light-hearted, amusing, deep, and even heartbreaking. This collection is timely and worth the read! Here are some of my favorites:

"Land of opportunity, if you are resourceful." -James Glover
"Taiwanese and American: both, not either." -Jaime Yen
"Sister pretends she can't use chopsticks." -Yukari Iwatani Kane
"Building the America of Dad's dreams." -David Henry Hwang
"My parents met in ESL class." -Lalo Alcarez
"Wanted to give Mom my birthright." -Shauna Greene
"Half Jewish, half Armenian: all survivor." -Amy Keyishian
"Identity reduced to a checked box." -A. McClure
"Filipino-American. I'm the hyphen in between." -Deidrene Crisanto
"Home: anywhere they let you in." -Janet Kirchheimer
"Foreign accent: a sign of bravery." -Amy Chua

[Hebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the footsteps of Hemingway, Larry Smith has taken stories made of only six words to an entirely different level–that of a community (or rather, communities) mixing celebrities and ordinary people telling their stories in an extremely compact and powerful short form. Love, loss, humor, and everyday life are a few of the themes explored and enriched by this project... and now immigration, a timely subject approached with compassion, open eyes, and many surprising twists–yes, there are twists even in these short phrases. Full disclosure: I'm one of the book's proud contributors. Some of the "sixes" I love from fellow contributors on this book: "I am Indian. From India.", "New arrivals become the next hosts", "We stayed because of First Amendment", "Now in America, I become Black.", and "But where are you really from?"

[Carolina Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is very inspiring and full of heartwarming short stories.

[Gillian Pelton-Saito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really the best of America - our amazing stories that make up our multicultural mosaic-all in six words

[Kabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but what story can be told in just six?
Six Words Fresh Off the Boat is a dynamic book filled with personal narratives of immigrants and refugees and their experience before and after coming to the United States.
A refugee’s or immigrant’s journey to a new home can often be a personal and individualized one and, as such, often times a life-changing endeavor; this book offers a glimpse into their real-life experiences. Within these words holds their journeys, their trials, and their stories. Six Words Fresh Off the Boat is an insightful read, and I would recommend it to anyone.”

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gets five stars from me for being so much more than expected! An overachieving book- I love it!

I had heard of the six word memoir thing awhile back, and then I saw this volume come up in my library's Wowbrary. I thought it would be a really short read: just a collection of six word memoirs on the topic of immigration. But it's more! There are super short little essays scattered throughout, in which we get to know a few immigrants on a deeper level than we could just through six words. Also, the six word memoirs are grouped loosely, making for a more enjoyable and cohesive read.

Recommended!

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Grounded in our roots, we rise."

This is a great collection of stories.

This book is six word stories and pictures along with longer stories (a page or two long) from notable people. These stories share the immigration of so many people and families including native peoples and European immigrants. It's a nice variety and a quick read.

My biggest complaint is all the changes in fonts. While I like that it changes for each story some of the fonts feel a little goofy or out of place.

It's a good read to give you hope and remind us where we all come from.

[Cameron Hartness · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to get excited about! Not only are the various stories incredibly valuable, but they are beautifully written. I had chills *constantly* while reading these. "6-word memoirs" are interspersed with narrative essays from a variety of authors, making it a dynamic, quick, and engaging read. With a unit on narrative writing coming up for my 10th graders, I already know that this book will provide a large base of mentor-texts. I'm also excited about asking them to write their own 6-word memoirs as part of their writing process!

[Cara Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you describe your family's immigration story in 6 words? This is mine (but still not entirely pleased): mixed-bag: all that remains is lefse.

This was a quick read that I spontaneously scooped up at the library because the book cover caught my eye. Apparently there is a whole series and a school curriculum around this concept but this is the first I've seen it.

Delightful, inspiring, sobering and truly captures the American immigrant diversity and story. Highly recommend.

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely appreciated this book. It was wonderful reading the stories of people who have family who immigrated into the US!or were immigrants themselves. For those like me who are were born here, I think we forget that this country was started by immigrants. People who came to this country and worked hard to build it into what it is today. We must remember that! This book makes us remember.

[Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the books in the six word series! While my ancestors were brought to the US several generations back, I have my own contribution to this effort:

Mom's: fled Europe
Dad's: were slaves

There's so much more to my family than those six words, but they're a good conversational starting point.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific book that combines short personal essays with six-word memoirs, all on the theme of being an immigrant. It's incredible how so few words can be so powerful. Highly relevant to today's world.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

J -- POLITICAL SCIENCE

This was my choice for a J book while reading my way in the letters of the Library of Congress Classification. Although mostly six word memoirs, there were longer stories about immigrating. It would be a good supplement to an English or social studies class.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing what can be said in just six words. This latest in the series includes six-word memoirs from immigrants and their descendants--which is almost all of us. Also included are short bios of some of the people who offered their stories.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hadn't realized there were so many of these `Six Word' books but I liked this just as I enjoyed the first one I read several years ago. Think this one had more essays, but maybe I just don't remember those from the other book, as it is how clever people can be with just six words that sticks with you more

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have been aware of the Six-Word Memoirs project for a long time. My library made copies of this 2017 book, a collaboration with Fresh Off The Boat TV series, available for free to the community. The stories are powerful and touching.

[Jordana Schmier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit--I searched for my own six words first! What amazing stories! It's a window into the eyes of immigrants, touching those of us who are a few generations out as well as the newly-arrived.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoutful read made all the more amazing with 6 words from McKinney author Lynn Weinberger.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING. Even includes the director of our Columbus affiliate US Together!

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such powerful stories in only six words. Such an easy read, but so deep, so important, so challenging. Everyone should read this!

[Christopher Obert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book but I felt a bit of politics in it as I read it.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique look at the immigrant experience

[Diana Olivares · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took too long to read because I expected the quotes to be more inspiring. Still, some truly worthwhile stories included.

[Maria Caplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many openings in this book for learning. The power of 6 words. The journey of coming fresh off the boat. Strength in word choice. Empathy and compassion.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realize there was a whole series of these, and this is a great volume for teaching AND reading.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six words can pack a powerful punch. Both heartwarming and heartbreaking to hear the different stories of immigrants.