I Am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story

An ALA Notable Book for Children
Winner of the Woodson Award

He challenged the Supreme Court on his right to be called citizen--and won

When American-born Wong Kim Ark returns home to San Francisco after a visit to China, he's stopped and told he cannot enter: he isn't American. What happens next would forever change the national conversation on who is and isn't American. After being imprisoned on a ship for months, Wong Kim Ark takes his case to the Supreme Court and argues any person born in America is an American citizen.

I am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story is an important picture book that introduces young readers to the young man who challenged the Supreme Court for his right to be an American citizen and won, confirming birthright citizenship for all Americans.


Author: Martha Brockenbrough, Grace Lin
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 11/23/2021
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 9.59h x 10.67w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9780316426923
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.1
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 514500 / I Am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2021
School Library Journal 10/01/2021 pg. 100
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2021 pg. 127
Publishers Weekly 11/15/2021
Booklist 01/01/2022 pg. 65

About the Author
Martha Brockenbrough is the author of many books for young readers. he teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts, blogs for the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, and founded National Grammar Day. She has worked as a newspaper reporter, a high school teacher, and as editor of MSN.com.

Grace Lin is the award-winning and bestselling author and illustrator of Starry River of the Sky, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Rat, Dumpling Days, and Ling & Ting, as well as picture books such as A Big Bed for Little Snow and A Big Mooncake for Little Star Grace is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in Massachusetts. Her website is www.gracelin.com.

Julia Kuo is a Taiwanese-American illustrator who has worked with the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Google. She also illustrated The Sound of Silence. Julia has taught illustration courses at Columbia College Chicago and at her alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. She was the visual arm of Chicago's 2017 March for Science and has had the honor of being an artist-in-residence at Banff Centre for the Arts in 2014 and in 2017.
Julia is currently the recipient of a 2019-2021 Gray Center Mellon Collaborative Fellowship at the University of Chicago.