Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. When authors write books that span

generational lines, and when people like me talk about books that span generational lines,

there's often a heftiness to the language. And, you know, I'm guilty of it too, stuff about

knowing the stories of the people who came before you and

acknowledging the traumas of the past and how they ripple into the present.

Rachel Kong has a book out called Real Americans, and yeah, it spans generations.

But when she talks about that aspect of the book with NPR's Juana Summers, she talks about it in

plainer, more direct, and in my opinion,

more effective terms.

She says all she wants to do when thinking about multiple generations is compare notes,

which signals that it's a two-way street.

You know, there's things to learn on both sides of this generational divide.

That's after the break.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors. On our new show,

Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

A story of young love across class at the turn of the millennium in New York City,

a young man coming of age in the Pacific Northwest, a Chinese science student determining her own

future as communism takes hold in her country. These are three of the people we meet in the new

novel, Real Americans by Rachel Kong. The book explores not just what it means to be American

...