Immigrant Writings

Selections for Adults

Crossing into America: The New Literature on Immigration
Mendoza, Louis & S. Shankar, editors | New Press, © 2003 | 810.8 C
Fiction, memoir, poetry, and personal essays by new immigrants.
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Crossing the BLVD: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in a New America
Lehrer, Warren and Judith Sloan | W.W. Norton, © 2003 | 305.9069 L
Two documentary artists produce a vibrant portrait of Queens, New York City’s most ethnically diverse borough.
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The Dew Breaker
Danticat, Edwidge | Knopf, © 2004 | FIC D
A Haitian immigrant to New York cannot escape his dark political past.
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Displaced Persons: Growing Up American After the Holocaust
Berger, Joseph | Scribner, © 2001 | B Berger
A journalist chronicles the hardships and joys of his Polish Jewish family, Holocaust survivors who migrated to New York City in 1950. Autobiography.
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For Matrimonial Purposes
Daswani, Kavina | Putnam, © 2003 | FIC D
After obtaining permission from her family, 33-year-old Anju leaves Bombay to look for a husband in America.
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The Interpreter
Kim, Suki | Straus & Giroux, © 2003 | FIC K
While translating a witness’s testimony from Korean to English, Suzy Park discovers that her parents’ deaths were not a result of random violence.
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Jonah and Sarah: Jewish Stories of Russia and America
Shraer-Petrov, David | Syracuse University Press, © 2003 | FIC S
Thirteen stories bearing testimony of the author’s setting roots in the U.S.
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The Other Face of America: Chronicles of the Immigrants Shaping Our Future
Ramos, Jorge | HarperCollins, © 2002 | 973.0468
A journalistic collection of 49 pieces depicting the lives and cultures of Hispanics in the U.S.
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Raw Silk
Alexander, Meena | Triquartly Books, © 2004 | 811 A
East meets west in the poet’s vivid reflections of being an immigrant and a woman.
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Song of the Water Saints
Rosario, Nelly | Pantheon Books, © 2002 | FIC R
The tragedy of Graciela, a young Dominican woman, provides the backdrop for this provocative intergenerational story.
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We Won’t Budge
Diawara, Manthia | Basic Civitas Books, © 2003 | B Diawara
Diawara, a Malian native, revisits his early years and reflects on the racism confronting today’s immigrants. Autobiography.
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Selections for Young Adults

Ask Me No Questions
Budhos, Marina Tamar | Atheneum Books for Young Readers, © 2006 | FIC B
Nadira’s father is arrested and detained at the Canadian border.
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Behind the Mountains
Danticat, Edwidge | Orchard, © 2002 | FIC D
Celiane’s diary records her journey from Haiti to Brooklyn.
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Burro Genius
Villaseñor, Victor | Rayo, © 2004 | B Villaseñor
A Mexican-American author looks back upon his life.
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Enrique's journey
Nazario, Sonia | Random House, © 2006 | 305.2308 N
A Honduran boy searches to find his mother.
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Finding Miracles
Alvarez, Julia | Knopf, © 2004 | FIC A
Adopted and now living in Vermont, Milagros explores her Latino heritage.
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First Crossing
Gallo, Donald, editor | Candlewick, © 2004 | 808.831 F
Stories of immigrant teens from many nations reveal unique and common experiences of coming to America.
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Fresh Off the Boat
De la Cruz, Melissa | HarperCollins, © 2005 | FIC D
A Cuban immigrant finds her place in a new school.
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La linea
Jaramillo, Ann | Roaring Brook Press, © 2006 | FIC J
Miguel and Elena, cross the Mexican border to the USA.
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The Lost Boys of Sudan
Bixler, Mark | University of Georgia, © 2005 | 962.4043 B
Young African men start life over after years on the run.
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Something About America
Testa, Maria | Candlewick, © 2005 | FIC T
A refugee family fleeing ethnic hatred in Kosovo confronts racism in Maine in this novel written as poetry.
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A Step from Heaven
Na, An | Front Street, © 2001 | FIC N
A young woman works to bridge two worlds: Korea and America.
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The Story of My Life
Ahmedi, Farah with Tamim Ansary | Simon Spotlight, © 2005 | B Ahmedi
A feisty teen and her mother flee war-torn Kabul, ending up in Chicago.
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When the Spirits Dance Mambo
Vega, Marta Moreno | Three Rivers, © 2004 | B Vega
Growing up Nuyorican in El Barrio, a scholar honors revered traditions.
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Selections for Children: Younger Readers

Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa
Chambers, Veronica | Dial, © 2005 | J B Cruz C
Vibrant art animates this lively account of the beloved Cuban-American singer.
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The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H. A. Rey
Borden, Louise | Houghton, © 2005 | J B Rey B
The exciting story of how the creators of everyone’s favorite monkey escaped wartime Paris on homemade bicycles.
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My Name Is Yoon
Recorvits, Helen | Farrar, © 2003 | J PIC R
A little girl from Korea learns that even in English her name is still "shining wisdom."
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The Remembering Stone
Russell, Barbara Timberlake | Farrar, © 2004 | J PIC R
An immigrant child dreams of her Costa Rican home in a lushly illustrated story of hope and migrating blackbirds.
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Yoko
Wells, Rosemary | Hyperion, © 1998 | J PIC W
A tender and appealing portrait of a nursery school class and the resourceful teacher who helps the other animal children learn to appreciate Yoko’s sushi lunch.
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Selections for Children: Older Readers

Angel’s Grace
Baptiste, Tracey | Simon & Schuster, © 2005 | J FIC B
On a summer vacation in Trinidad, a young girl from Brooklyn uncovers a secret from her family’s past.
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Esperanza Rising
Ryan, Pam Muñoz | Scholastic, © 2000 | J FIC R
To escape their scheming family, Esperanza and her mother flee their privileged lives in Mexico and find refuge in the migrant camps of Southern California during the Great Depression.
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Home Is East
Ly, Many | Delacorte, © 2005 | J FIC L
After her mother walks out, Amy and her father leave their tightly knit Cambodian-American community in search of a new life.
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A House of Tailors
Giff, Patricia Reilly | Wendy Lamb Books, © 2004 | J FIC G
Accused of spying, Dina flees from Prussia to America and discovers the joys and hardships of immigrant life in 1870s Brooklyn.
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The King of Mulberry Street
Napoli, Donna | Wendy Lamb Books, © 2005 | J FIC N
A resourceful young Jewish immigrant from Italy finds himself alone on the mean streets of Lower Manhattan. A gripping tale of survival set in the 1890s.
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Maggie’s Door
Giff, Patricia Reilly | Wendy Lamb Books, © 2003 | J FIC G
The harrowing account of two courageous Irish children who escape the potato famine and make their way to Brooklyn. A sequel to Nory Ryan’s Song.
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Memories of Survival
Krinitz, Esther Nisenthal and Bernice Steinhardt | Hyperion, © 2005 | J 940.53 K
Exquisite pictorial embroideries illustrate this poignant memoir of a Jewish girl in Poland during World War II and her postwar journey to New York City.
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Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York 1880-1924
Hopkinson, Deborah | Orchard, © 2003 | J 307.76 H
Five young immigrants remember their struggles and dreams. Illustrated with many photographs.
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Tangled Threads: A Hmong Girl’s Story
Shea, Pegi Deitz | Clarion, © 2003 | J FIC S
After 10 years in a refugee camp in Thailand, Mai Yang and her grandmother join their relatives in Rhode Island and experience the strangeness of the new American ways.
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This booklist was prepared by the following staff members of the The New York Public Library: Ismael Alicea, Susan Gitman, Sandra Payne, Susan Pine.

Selected titles appearing on this booklist may be available in recorded, Braille, or large print versions. Please contact the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, 212.206.5400, 212.206.5458 (TTY)

This booklist is supported in part by the New York State Coordinated Outreach Services Grant. (March 2006).

Visit the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs.