Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Part memoir, part advice for undocumented teens, Sara Saedi’s book takes a look at her family’s struggles as undocumented immigrants from Iran, Sara and her sister’s difficulties as teens who were different from their peers, and the process of their change in status application and naturalization process. She has written a book that is informative and at the same time humorous. I loved her inclusion of diary entries. I would recommend this book for anyone interested on what it’s like to be undocumented.

This is a good place to start for young people who want to know about the process of gaining legal status in the US. The writing is accessible for middle grades, and the author gives good info about America’s involvement in Iran’s various regime changes. I’d recommend it to students who have no idea why political asylum is necessary, or who have a jingoistic outlook inherited from their parents.

This book was a fascinating and frustrating look at immigration and naturalization in the United States. Who knew there were so many hoops to jump through to achieve US citizenship? Immigrants, that's who. Author Sara Saedi shares her experience growing up as an "illegal" immigrant. This was an eye-opening read for me as I discovered how truly easy it is for an immigrant to go from a legal status to "illegal" in our country. I'm looking forward to seeing the television series based on this book!

Fear of deportation kept Sara up at night, but it didn't keep her from being a teenager. She desperately wanted a green card, along with clear skin, her own car, and a boyfriend.

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card
by Sara Saedi

A very good book for young adults! Our library is not very diverse so I wonder how our teens will relate to this book.
Thanks to Net Galley for providing this ARC.

4 stars

Sara Saedi does an amazing job sharing her story of becoming a citizen. It is very relatable. The interspersing of tidbits on what teens wanting to be citizens can do, was very enlightening. This is a book to have in every library.

Sara Saedi immigrated to the United States with her family just after the Iranian Revolution. She didn't find out that she was living in the country illegally until she was thirteen.

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card is the memoir of Sara's teen years. As she participated in the coming-of-age rituals of an average American teen, worries about deportation were a constant undercurrent.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Sara Saedi is exactly my age, and it was fun to read about a teenager from my generation. Saedi also deftly steers her readers through the ins and outs of Iranian history and culture and what the legalization process is like for an undocumented immigrant.

Whether discussing her first experience smoking pot or dealing with her parents' secret divorce (they'd been told it would make it easier for her mom to get a green card), Saedi describes growing up as an "illegal immigrant" from Iran in a snarky tone that leads to laughter even when she describes the constant underlying fear of deportation to the country her family had fled when was she two. She describes the long road of seeking asylum and becoming an American citizen. Best for older teens as she navigates a high school world of sex, drugs, and immigration lawyers.

I didn’t know very much about what it was like to be an illegal immigrant as a child in Ohio. It’s only been since moving to California, and meeting the American citizen child of an undocumented family that I truly began to understand. This book is a wonderful glimpse into the life of someone else, someone without the same privilege as me. It helps my compassion to read Sara’s story.

Americanized is a non fiction piece of work, written by Sara Saedi, about her life and culture.
She is from Iran and when she was little, her family moved out to USA, but they did not have green cards. We follow Sara and her family through the journey to become USA legal citizens and their fear of being transported back to Iran.

This book is so educational. We learn a lot about Iran and Persian people and their culture.
Also, so many history facts were mentioned here and I can not tell you how grateful I am for reading this book.

In my country, we don't learn anything about Iran in schools, and while reading, I have realized just how little (or non) I actually knew about anything that Iran people went through.
I was even shocked to learn some things and how life in Iran was before.

I think reading this book is really important to educate yourself. Even if you don't feel like Iran or this kind of books interest you, it will help you understand their culture and where they come from, plus it will educate you about their history.

This was an ok read for me mostly because I wasn't able to relate as much as I wanted to. But the writing was good, and the pacing was good in my opinion.

In Sara Saedi's laugh-out-loud memoir Americanized: Rebel without a Green Card, which is based on her teenage diary, she explores the experience of being an undocumented immigrant. After fleeing from Iran and moving to California during the Iranian Revolution, Sara found out she was in the US illegally at age 13. In addition to the constant fear of deportation, she struggles with the usual complaints about her awkward teenage years - bad complexion, unrequited love, her uni-brow, and the idolization of her perfect older sister. Black and white photos and original diary entries are included in each cleverly titled chapter, such as "Sporting the Frida Kahlo." Her parents' frustrating attempts at documentation, as well as the history of Iran and advice for currently undocumented teens are interspersed with her tales of teenage angst. Her navigation of life between two cultures will entertain readers, as well as give them a deeper cultural understanding of what is means to be undocumented. She includes a helpful recap of her immigration journey she calls "immigration for Dummies" at the end of the book.

A wonderful memoir that gives insight into the complexities of immigration, asylum and growing up illegal in America.

Engaging and heartfelt memoir about growing up in the US in an undocumented immigrant family, I truly enjoyed this book. It had a very light-hearted and casual tone to it-it felt like the author was talking to the reader.

This memoir was both funny and heartfelt, illuminating and entertaining. It surprised me with how incredibly honest it was, and that honesty and depth goes a long way toward humanizing undocumented immigrants..

Sara’s memoir provides a humorous account of growing up as an illegal immigrant in America. Readers (in America) will find Sara relatable no matter their citizenship status. However, teens who are illegal immigrants will find much to identify with in Sara’s story. This title also does a great job addressing stereotypes and false conceptions about Iranian immigrants with humorous asides.

I can’t sing the praises of this book enough. It’s written so that it feels like you’re listening to your friend tell you a story filled with humor and emotion. I learned so much about the immigration process and all of the pitfalls that can happen to families looking for safety and a better life. At this time, it is the perfect book for young and old alike. Let’s start trying to understand one another better. Highly recommended!

This book is extremely relevant. Sara Saedi's memoir about learning she is an undocumented immigrants immigrant is both funny and memorable. I think everyone will be touched by this story.

3.5/5
RECEIVED FROM NETGALLEY
I had this book for so long then when I thought I had time to read it, it already came out. So I dedicated spring break to catch up on the ARCs that I missed and this was one of the top three that I was very behind on. I loved reading about this author and her struggles when she was an illegal immigrant and who tried to live her best teenage life back when there wasn't this much technology. If I can meet this author I could and would.

As a thirteen-year-old, Sara Saedi uncovered her family's secret, that they were living in the U.S. illegally. At the age of two, Sara's family fled the instability of Iran for life in the United States, and she grew up just like many other immigrant teens in the U.S., fearing deportation, worrying about acne, fawning over the opposite sex, and waiting for a green card.

Americanized is Saedi's story filled with humor and typical teen angst but it also serves as a chronicle of the lengthy and difficult process of becoming a legal resident. The mix of 90s pop culture, Iranian history, the immigrant experience, and laugh out loud stories is a sure fire win!

Americanized, Sara Saedi's memoir about her high school self realizing she’s undocumented is poignant, funny, and so so relevant! When Sara moved to the US from Iran at age 2, paperwork was clearly not on her radar. But when she realizes her sister can’t work anywhere BUT at their parents’s store (because she doesn’t have a social security number), the story begins....
I loved how the tone of this memoir is both casual and humorous, while informing the reader about Iranian-American life, living undocumented, and other “serious” topics - I think the best way to demonstrate is to give you some chapter titles: “I Didn’t Ask to Raise This Anchor Baby” and “Partners in Immigration Crime” are just the start. (Oh, and this one definitely passes the Bechdel-Wallace Test, in case you’re wondering!)