Book Reviews 1057 ogy. This yields problematic side effects that tend to favor those with the resources to lobby for their interests, usually corporations. It ties the hands of authors and artists who desire to build on and respond to existing art to create new work and limits the options available to educators and organizations such as libraries and museums who seek to promote and pre- serve cultural works. As befitting the subtitle “Art, Copyright and Public Interest,” most of the examples given are drawn from the world of the visual arts in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, specifically painting, sculpture, and architecture. However, it quickly becomes evident that, when considering “public interest,” a sprawling array of media is drawn in for discussion including music, graffiti, tattoos, fashion, film, and video games. Essentially, the topic of IP is inescapable as it overshadows all aspects of our culture. Niche examples include tattoo artists suing for infringement when their designs are reproduced on celebrities featured in video games while others impact a broader public, such as the wrangling over the rights to the “Happy Birthday” song. In the latter half of the book, the author spends significant time delving into the rarified world of the luxury art market. Though interesting, details of six-figure art deals among wealthy clients, exclusive galleries, and auction houses may not be resonant for most read- ers. At most, they act as a microcosm of the often-contentious relationship between authors and owners. However, Buskirk concludes the book with a “Coda” in which she speculates on how the intersection of intellectual property law, virtual and augmented reality, and data privacy could create a whole new assortment of threats to individual freedoms and collective culture. Ultimately, she argues, “What’s at stake is nothing less than our ability to engage in a dialogue with shared cultural resources, the preservation of that heritage for future genera- tions, and our rights over ourselves.” Throughout Is it Ours? the author makes liberal use of citations, which are listed by chapter in “Notes” at the end of the book, along with a list of illustrations and an index. While the author does not help librarians answer the practical question, “Can I use this?” the meticulously researched material makes this text a good reference for librarians, faculty, and graduate students desiring context for the constantly evolving copyright landscape and its impact on our culture.—Carla-Mae Crookendale, Virginia Commonwealth University Yingyi Ma. Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2020. 312p. Paper, $35.00 (ISBN 978-0231184588). Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education by Yingyi Ma challenges the monolithic im- age of Chinese international students at US colleges. Ma, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Syracuse University, attained her bachelor’s degree in China and came to the United States as a fully funded gradu- ate student. She contrasts her background with the new generation of Chinese students in the United States who are mostly self-funded and are more likely to be undergraduate students. Ambitious and Anxious informs this population’s heterogeneous re- alities. For example, it includes stories of Chinese international students whose families had to sell their houses to fund their college education 1058 College & Research Libraries November 2021 in the United States, as well as privileged students whose parents are college educated and wealthy. Some of them are fluent in English, while others struggle at communicating in Eng- lish. The book also touches on the impact of the growing Chinese economy and US colleges’ financial dependence on out-of-state and international students, which provides helpful context for these students’ experiences. The purpose of the book is to explore and analyze the experiences of recent Chinese undergraduates in the United States, focusing on “the duality of ambition and anxiety” (7) manifested through their experiences. They are ambitious about getting into highly ranked colleges, gaining global perspectives, choosing the right major, benefiting from both US and Chinese education, and increasing cultural flexibility and social mobility. At the same time, they are anxious about navigating the US college admissions process, making Ameri- can friends, balancing their pragmatic values with varied American values, getting used to academic norms in the United States, preserving family wealth in China, and surviving the challenging immigration environment in the United States. The book describes Chinese un- dergraduate students’ experiences over three stages: before their arrival in the United States, while attending US colleges, and after graduation. It focuses on full-time undergraduates at four-year colleges and features students who were born in the 1990s. Ma uses both quantitative and qualitative data sources for her analysis. The sources she employed for macro-level quantitative data include the Chinese Ministry of Education, the Institute of International Education, and the US National Science Foundation. For individual students’ data and narratives, she used three different methods: 1) an online survey to gather data on demographics, social networks, academic records, and their plans after graduation, with responses from 507 participants from 50 colleges; 2) one-on-one interviews with 65 Chi- nese college students in the United States; and 3) fieldwork in eight public high schools and one private high school in China. Ma’s analysis is balanced and nuanced. In chapter 1, Ma uses individual students’ stories and supporting data to describe their ambition and anxiety. For example, although the ma- jority of these students are paying full tuition, some started college in China and transferred to reduce the financial burden on their parents. They are singletons due to China’s one-child policy, which existed in the 90s, and are under high expectations from their parents. In chapter 2, Ma shows that studying abroad serves as an alternative to the Gaokao, the highly competitive national college entrance examination in China, and liberates students from the test-oriented Chinese education system. Ma’s study finds that students rely on rankings, agents, and parental networks to choose colleges. Chapter 3 describes different pathways Chinese international students reach US colleges, presents the role of for-profit agencies, and explains how the cost of tuition stratifies their pathways. Ma finds that parental education and students’ English proficiency affect college placement in the United States and that first-generation college students are less likely to attend selective institutions. Chapter 4 shows that these students believe that US education cultivates creativity and critical thinking while Chinese education cultivates perseverance and persistence. They are motivated to benefit from both education systems, although they feel anxious about negative profiling, stereotyping, and academic integrity accusations by their peers. Chapter 5 examines the lack of social integration of Chinese students at US colleges and discusses the rationales for their voluntary protective segregation. These students avoid party Book Reviews 1059 culture and try to protect themselves from neo-racism. Ma finds that participation in campus organizations helps boost friendships between Chinese and American students. Chapter 6 explains why Chinese students tend to choose STEM and business majors at US colleges. Ma argues that pragmatic collectivism, as well as language and cultural barriers, plays a role in Chinese students’ decisions. Chapter 7 examines Chinese international students’ classroom behaviors and describes their challenges associated with the language barrier and cultural differences. Chapters 8 and 9 reflect on the changes in Chinese international students’ lives after study- ing in the United States and debunk the myth that they come to the United States to study and migrate. Chapter 10 summarizes the findings and presents implications. Ma suggests that US colleges proactively reach out to Chinese international students so that they can avoid solely relying on ranking data and for-profit agents. She also emphasizes the importance of robust orientation programs and student services and advocates for expanded career services. The strengths of this book include the use of rigorous mixed methods, using both quan- titative and qualitative data. Additionally, Ma not only discusses trends but also shares coun- ternarratives to demonstrate the heterogeneity of the population. The challenges include the fact that this book does not discuss Chinese international students’ mental health issues or gender inequality in detail. As the number of Chinese international students in the United States continues to grow, librarians at US academic libraries will find this book valuable in understanding and sup- porting their needs. Additionally, US college administrators will find this book useful in recruiting Chinese international students more effectively. This book sheds light on the reali- ties of Chinese international students’ heterogeneous community and masterfully exposes the gaps in educational opportunities for this population in US colleges.—Mihoko Hosoi, The Pennsylvania State University Republics of Knowledge: Nations of the Future in Latin America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020. 304p. Paper, $39.95 (ISBN 9780691176758). In Republics of Knowledge: Nations of the Future in Latin America, Nicola Miller, Professor of Latin American history at the University College London, offers a two-part book addressing the history of knowledge in Spanish America from independence in 1810 to 1910, when govern- ments understood the importance of access to public knowledge as a key feature of modern nations. From a multipractice perspective, Miller addresses the contribution to knowledge by different people, institutions, societal manifestations, public debates, policy-making, and collective identities. The author relies on three case studies involving Chile, Argentina, and Peru and the transnational connections that are made during the nineteenth century with other countries in Spanish America. Miller’s academic narrative style, set to Arno, and Old-style serif typeface in the classic Venetian tradition, is supported by citations and tables, taking the reader on a 10-chapter journey back in history covering topics including national and public libraries, literacy, infrastructure, land and territory, and the purpose of education. Miller starts by describing the role of national libraries, inserted in these nations in the independence-era, as centers of “universal enlightenment” and trusted by people of differ-