Product Description Collects writings by such top contributors as Jamaica Kincaid, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Richard Rodriguez, as well as a host of new writers, to present a history of modern immigration and reflections on the immigrant experience. From School Library Journal Adult/High School-This anthology includes a few poems and some fictional works, but most of the selections are memoirs. The political oppression and economic desperation that prompted immigration to the United States as well as the prejudice and discrimination that people often face once they arrive here are addressed in many of the pieces. Ramon "Tianguis" Perez recounts how illegal immigration from Mexico became a trend in the 1940s. Frank McCourt humorously narrates his last days in Ireland and long-anticipated arrival in the U.S. Nola Kambanda, a young woman born in Burundi to Rwandan parents, writes about her initial shock at the disdainful ignorance that many Americans display toward Africa. The touching short story "Hae Soon's Song" describes how the tragic experiences of a Korean woman caused her to flee to Hawaii, where she faced sexist humiliation in her job at a bar. The narrative poem "Thanksgiving" reads like a short story, and the poem "AmeRican" is about being Puerto Rican in the U.S. This is an excellent source for supplemental or independent reading in social studies classes. It can also serve to sensitize teens to the rich cultural diversity of their own schools and communities. Students will find much to entertain and enlighten them in this lively collection. Joyce Fay Fletcher, Rippon Middle School, Prince William County, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist "Leaving home is not what it used to be." With fiction, memoir, poetry, and personal essays, as well as scholarly analysis, this fine anthology captures how the 1965 change in U.S. immigration law has affected who the new immigrants are and how they see themselves in America. Most now are from Asia and Latin America, and they are much more concerned with issues of race than were the earlier, mainly European arrivals. Of course, assimilation is still an option (as Richard Rodriguez's eloquent essay makes clear), but many of these writers are more conflicted about "becoming American." As the editors point out, national boundaries are not the concern they once were, and the break with the Old Country is not as final. A beautiful piece by Cuban American Achy Obejas captures the intergenerational conflict without heroics, and there are electrifying selections from Sandra Cisneros, Jamaica Kincaid, and other famous writers as well as some exciting new voices. The book ends with academic discussion on "debates and contexts," but the personal writing says it best. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved About the Author Louis Mendoza is the author of Historia and is assistant professor of English and Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas, San Antonio. S. Shankar is the author of A Map of Where I Live and Textual Traffic. He is an assistant professor of English at Rutgers University and lives in New York.