--- --- Nov 12, 2025 # Mỹ Documents by Kevin Nguyen by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff  Journalist Kevin Nguyen’s second novel, _Mỹ Documents_, is a sharpsatire that questions what it means to be an American.(Even the title is a clever inside joke: _Mỹ_ means “American” in Vietnamese.) When a string of terrorist attacks carried out by those with Vietnamese surnames causes a national panic, the U.S. government sets up detention centers for Vietnamese Americans, upending the lives of the Nguyen family.Ursula, an up-and-coming journalist, and her brother Alvin, an intern at Google, get an exemption, possibly because they have a white mother. But Jen and Duncan, Ursula and Alvin’s younger and fully Vietnamese relatives, are imprisoned in labor camps, which have been rebranded as “assembly centers” and are sponsored by the likes of Nike and Amazon.Jen is eventually able to share the details of her harrowing experience with Ursula, who uses the information to grow her journalism career—a decision that comes at a steep price. By using real examples from U.S. history—[Japanese incarceration in World War II](https://time.com/4652340/japanese-segregation-portraits-1944/ "undefined"),[post-9/11 Islamophobia](https://time.com/6335453/islamophobia-mental-health-effects-essay/ "undefined"), and the [current immigration crackdown](https://time.com/7311302/trump-immigration-kids-at-risk/ "undefined")—Nguyen adds a touch of chilling reality to his fictional dystopia. The result is an eerily prescient yet funny coming-of-age drama about racism, ambition, and resilience. —_Shannon Carlin_ **_These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser._** **Buy Now:** _Mỹ_ _Documents_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780593731680 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4oWSuVn "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. Mỹ Documents: 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329531/my-documents/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329531/my-documents/"},"headline":"Mỹ Documents","datePublished":"2025-11-12T13:00:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:02:56.670Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329531/my-documents/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","ecommerce","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte52c2f2cf0553918/6998cb30c8dcb43cf1b509d3/100_Books_2025_My-Documents-Kevin-Nguyen.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte52c2f2cf0553918/6998cb30c8dcb43cf1b509d3/100_Books_2025_My-Documents-Kevin-Nguyen.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329531/my-documents/","name":"Mỹ Documents"}}]}] ```