This adventurous book is a great book to tell about the excitement of coming to America from various countries. Coming to America expressed how the immigrants felt coming to America through words and through illustrations. This book is a great read for upper elementary grades. It is full of new vocabulary and social study lessons. This book even talks about a young lady who came to America to meet her parents with her two younger brothers after growing up without them.

LEXILE: AD890L

Really enjoyed the historical detail in this; the Nisei experience on Canada's west coast is fascinating, and I've only read a few perspectives on it. Authentic-feeling story of a Canadian-born son of Japanese parents from the 1930s-1980s. Starts with childhood experiences living on a floating house on the BC coast and follows through the internment and mountain camps of WWII, setting out to Toronto in the postwar period to build a life, dreaming and working toward success, and dealing with the fallout of letting ambition lead to selfishness. There's a strong fantastic/spiritual/magical realist element throughout, based on legends, dreams and altered perceptions. Very firmly in the literary fiction tradition, with some themes that don't entirely link up. I read a lot of genre fiction and YA, so I wasn't really up for the dark period in the last third, but I liked the earlier bits and the resolution. On the whole, less dark and depraved than a lot of adult literary fiction; it manages to convey a sense of hope, optimism and potential throughout. Very cool Canadian perspective, and it feels authentic enough that I was sad there aren't floating cities in Toronto's harbour yet.

Illegal is the story of two brothers’ journey from Africa to Europe. Along the way Ebo, the main character, charms his way by singing, finds a bit of luck, and cheerfully works at whatever job he can find. Ebo is an intelligent and gutsy hero, who, perhaps because of his age, naively manages to think positively and to find solutions when faced with both mundane and life-threatening problems that seem never-ending. Ebo and his brother save one another time and again, but both are repeatedly treated horribly and discarded by people who have far more resources than they do.

This book would be great for upper elementary through high school libraries and classrooms, as it presents a well-thought out and emotionally involving introduction for kids to the refugee crisis in Europe. The illustrations draw the reader in, and effectively show the living conditions and peril the brothers encounter in an appropriate and engaging way. I enthusiastically recommend this for grades 4 and up.

Pashmina is the story of an artistic high school girl, Priyanka, whose mother immigrated to America from India before she was born. Priyanka wants to know more about the Indian culture, and about her father, but her mother refuses to discuss either one. To make matters worse, Priyanka’s favorite uncle is having a child of his own and she feels left out. Then Priyanka finds a magical pashmina in an old suitcase, which transports her to the colorful, fascinating India of her dreams. Luckily, her aunt, who still lives in India, calls and invites Priyanka to visit. This visit answers Priyanka’s questions, shows her what her mother’s life was like before she left, and helps her continue her own artistic journey upon her return.

The strengths of this graphic novel are in the simple but endearing illustrations, the bursts of color that signal the pashmina’s magical escapades, and in the characterization of the teen lead, whose angsty behavior is just edgy enough without being off-putting. This would be a great companion to American Born Chinese or Persepolis, and could be enjoyed by students in middle or high school.

In the Story Hour, an arrange marriage finds Lakshmi, a woman from a small town in India, working in her husband's restaurant in the American midwest. She is exhausted, unhappy, isolated. She attempts suicide and comes under the care of Maggie, a psychologist and African American.

Maggie is married to an Indian, Sudhir, who came as a student and stayed on to become a professor and American citizen.

Maggie and Lakshmi are from different cultures, have different family dynamics but their similarities as women, indeed as human beings transcends the patient doctor relationship and finds them becoming friends.

Gradually understanding grows and with Maggie's help and guidance economic disparity between the two diminishes.

But when secrets are revealed both judge each other unfairly in the most part because, despite their affection for each other, it's impossible for each to overcome the biases ingrained by culture.

The relationship seems irreparably damaged but one woman is prepared to risk everything for make it right again.

Author Thrity Umrigar really shines a light on how our background and different cultures frame the way we see ourselves, our fellow human beings and the world around us. It's also a realistic, compassionate and hopeful look at the lives of millions of immigrant women from third world countries who come to reside in the west.

The story has depth, humour, passion and compassion and remarkable insight. A true novel for the twenty-first century.