Chapters

CHAPTER ONE   It was a sunny morning with mostly clear skies — typical springtime weather for Fresno, the midsized city in central...

CHAPTER TWO I was born in May 1972 in Izmir, the largest city on Turkey’s western coast and the third largest in the country. The city is...

CHAPTER THREE After my parents split up, I usually saw my father on the weekends. After living in Izmir for many years, in the early ’80s...

CHAPTER FOUR Because I was an only child, my cousin Gul was like a sister to me. Her mom, Saime, was my mom’s older sister, and Gul was...

CHAPTER FIVE I stared into the mirror, desperate to see any sign of facial hair. At thirteen, I was impatient to grow up. I measured my...

CHAPTER SIX America had a huge influence on my dreams and ambitions while I was growing up. It wasn’t just about music and films, as much...

CHAPTER SEVEN My father had a close friend named Sevdin Abi (Abi means older brother in Turkish) in the ’70s. He was a Kurdish man from...

CHAPTER EIGHT   Although I had a lot of fun growing up and was surrounded by friends and family, as I got older, I began to feel a...

CHAPTER NINE   “I’m going to America,” I told my cousin Sercan, as we stood together on the balcony of his family’s apartment on 1696...

CHAPTER TEN   I was very excited when I bought myself a bike for $50 at Kmart and began riding to Cannery Row and Fisherman's Wharf, then...