... poignant.

[A] masterful memoir in which Brina examines the complex relationship she has with her interracial parents.

This is how a woman in her 40s comes to terms with her identity in a supposedly racially aware America. It’s a story written with pathos, humour, grace and a massive dose of cringe.

... reads like a deeply personal apology from Brina to her mother.

Speak, Okinawa is masterful at describing the internal dissonance that mixed race children can feel.

Brina uses simple, direct language, often in the subject-verb-object format, to her advantage in order to paint blunt pictures, which reminds readers of her mother.

Brina’s uniquely structured memoir, which investigates her own past as the daughter of an Okinawan mother and a white American father, and the history of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa.

Brina captivates in her stunning and intimate debut memoir.

In a debut memoir, the daughter of an Okinawan Vietnam War bride and an American soldier grapples with her complex familial roots.