Immigration Narratives in Young Adult Literature

Twenty-one narratives range in publication date from 1868 through 200 and cover a broad range of periods and cultural backgrounds. The struggles faced by immigrants on their way to the United States as well after their arrival are included. The book begins with a brief history of American immigration and then delves into each title individually, offering an in-depth synopsis of and commentary on it. A concluding chapter compares the portrayal of the immigrant experience to current thinking about adolescent development. An annotated list of further reading is included. While well written, this title will have few applications in library settings. It may be useful to teachers or students of young adult literature at the university level as a historical study of teen immigration literature, but it will date quickly as new titles on this topic come out every year. It also has potential application for teachers trying to develop units on immigration for teens. However, the book reads primarily as a dissertation and not as a practical manual for creating such a unit.—Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH