One Tribe

by M. Evelina Galang

In One Tribe, the death of Isabel Manalo’s unborn child stirs wide spread speculation in her small Midwestern suburb. Fed up with the noise of local tsismosas (gossips), she moves to Virginia Beach to teach myth and history to Filipino American youth. Isa Manalo walks into the chaos of drive by shootings, beauty pageants, and community politicking. At every turn she runs up against youth gangs who distrust her, community elders who disapprove of her loose outsider ways, and a Filipino boyfriend who accuses her of acting too white. Eventually Isa fights back. As Hurricane Emilia brews at the edge of the east coast, Isa opens her house to a local girl gang and nourishes their troubled spirits, instigating change sudden as the shift of tropical winds.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

321 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2006

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been meaning to say a few things about M. Evelina Galang’s novel, One Tribe (New Issues, 2006). As some of you may know, this is her first novel. Her very first book is a short story collection entitled, Her Wild American Self (Coffee House Press, 1996).

These will be more like notes rather than anything close to a polished statement. I realize that even though I have recently been reading a lot more fiction that I typically do, One Tribe is the first novel that I’ve recently read that I’ve thought hard about in terms of structure in addition to “story.”

The protagonist: Isabel Manalo, a Midwest Pinay who grew up a minority among white folks. She is socially and psychologically scarred, and/or haunted by her recent miscarriage.

The problem: She’s placed herself among the Virginia Beach Filipino American community, and has never experienced this before, a huge, overpowering, and suffocating Filipino social world. I think about its similarities to the sprawling Bay Area Filipino American communities, though the Virginia Beach Filipino Americans are portrayed as tightly tied to the American military.

Entire write up here: http://bjanepr.wordpress.com/2009/03/...

[Megan Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a 1sf generation Filipina radicalizing youth through art, culture, & creativity, all while healing her own soul and reflecting on her own upbringing.

This book started of very strong, great writing by Galang. However it hit a point where it just flatlines , things happen but not really ?

Somewhere in the middle it felt like the author was struggling to keep the storyline together and big moments weren’t delivered in a way that made an impact. Also the ending sucks.

Currently reading her short stories “when the hibiscus falls” much much bettrr