Katie Johnson
February 8, 2010
Immigration Summaries
Mulitcultural Reviews
My Chinatown
A Year In Poems
Kam Mak
My Chinatown is a collection of poems that tell the story of young boy’s immigration experience from Hong Kong to New York. The poems are written in simple verse, describing different events that the child encounters throughout the seasons of the year. The reader concludes a sense of longing and frustrations from the young boy as the poems tell of major differences from Hong Kong and New York (New Year’s celebration isn’t the same). The poems progress through the seasons andthe boy becomes more acquainted to America, discovering something new each day. The brightly painted illustrations are a great asset to the story as they display details of the Chinese culture.
Dreaming of America
An Ellis Island Story
By Eve Bunting
Dreaming of America, is one family’s journey to America from Cork, Ireland on the SS Nevada. The story describes the hardships that Annie Moore and her two brothers, Anthony and Phillip encounter as they journey to meet their parents in New York. Annie and her brothers are overwhelmed with feelings of excitement, worry, and fear as their ship departs. Hardships that Annie and her family encounter on the ship include the food which soon became redundant, having potatoes and bread; stew one night. Tremendous storms which rocked the boat back and forth caused sickness. Annie and her brothers endured the hardships and tried to stay strong. They built upon their strength by sharing thoughts of their home (Ireland), and their future home (America). It was January 1, 1892, Annie’s birthday when the ship docked. Annie’s parents were there to meet them in New York; a happy ending of overcoming the hardships of coming to America.
Dreams In The Golden Country
The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl
By Kathryn Lasky
Zipporah Feldman arrives in Ellis Island on September 1, 1903 with her mother and two older sisters. Russian Jews, the women come to join their father whom had immigrated from Zarichka, Russia two years before in pursuit of a better life for his family. Zipporah (Zippy) writes of the events of the first year in America in a diary that her mother gave her before they left for America. Her diary entries tell the story of the values of family, and growth of a young Jewish girl, coming to a new place. She tells of the struggles and hardships her family encounter not only with others, but within a tight-nit Jewish family;. The family is torn, when one parent holds tight to the virtues of their home and religion, while the other is anxious to adapt to a new way of life in which he has become accustomed to in two years. The author does an outstanding job of writing the story which not only tells of historical events, but invites one into the life of a young Russian Jewish girls’ heart.