Immigration Narratives in Young Adult Literature: Crossing Borders

by Joanne Brown

Overview

Although the United States prides itself as a nation of diversity, the country that boasts of its immigrant past also wrestles with much of its immigrant present. While conflicting attitudes about immigration are debated, newcomers—both legal and otherwise—continue to arrive on American soil. And books about the immigrant experience—aimed at both adults and youth—are published with a fair amount of frequency.

In Immigration Narrative in Young Adult Literature: Crossing Borders, Joanne Brown explores the experiences of adolescents as portrayed in young adult novels. Her study features protagonists from a wide variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds in order to provide a complete discussion of the immigration experience of young adults. In this volume, Brown analyzes young adult novels that portray various aspects of the immigrant experience—journeys to the shores of the United States, the difficulties of adjustment, and the tensions that develop within family units as a result of immigration. Brown also examines how ethnicity, religion, and country of origin affect the adolescent characters' adjustment to their new country, as well as the process of moving from social outsiders to accepted citizens.

This thoroughly researched book includes theories of adolescent development and perspectives on immigration itself applied to the literary analyses. It also offers a framework for anticipating the success of young immigrants and relates this analysis to the novels Brown discusses. With an appendix of additional novels for further reading, this book will be a useful resource for librarians and teachers of adolescent literature, as well as for students, both those born in the United States and those who are immigrants themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810860568
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/02/2010
Series:	Studies in Young Adult Literature , #42
Pages:	174
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joanne Brown is professor emeritus at Drake University. She is the coauthor of Declarations of Independence: Empowered Girls in Young Adult Literature, 1990-2001 (2002) and The Distant Mirror: Reflections on Young Adult Historical Fiction (2005), both published by Scarecrow Press.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 The Golden Door 1

2 The Beckoning Shores 23

3 The Journey 45

4 Strangers in a Strange Land 73

5 Illustrated Immigration 95

6 Immigrant Children: Rebels with a Cause 111

7 Conclusion 139

Works Cited 147

Suggestions for Further Reading 151

Index 157

About the Author 163

Editorial Reviews

Deftly weaving together immigration research, adolescent development theory, and literary analyses, Brown explores a series of critical questions about the immigration experience through more than two dozen young adult books....Engrossing and eloquent, Immigration Narratives in Young Adult Literature evidences deep knowledge of and care for both young adult literature and the various facets of immigration, particularly as it "[intensifies] the process of questioning one's identity" during the adolescent passage-"their stories are stories of ordinary people made extraordinary by undertaking an extraordinary experience" (pp. 23-24). The book would serve as an excellent basis for a middle or high school book group, an American Studies curriculum unit, or simply to enlarge understanding of and empathy for the diverse experiences of one's clientele.

VOYA

This brief study is a useful tool for teachers who are organizing a course on the subject of immigration or a good starting point for scholars who are pursuing further research in this pervasive but largely undertheorized area of children's literature.

Children's Literature Association Quarterly

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

School Library Journal