LaShante A. James
Alverez, Julia.
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.
Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1991.
This text is unique in the way that Alvarez decided to write it, because it is written is reverse chronological order and perspectives that shift. It deals with the numerous challenges of immigration, painting a realistic picture of the struggle to assimilate, the feeling of displacement, and the confusion of identity suffered by the Garcia family, as forced to begin a new life in New York City. This text can be presented in excerpts or as a whole, as long as the focus remains on how the four daughters viewed growing up in New York City.
Anbinder, Tyler.
Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum.
New York: The Free Press, 2001.
Anbinder documents a neighborhood that housed the most impoverished immigrants, as well as African Americans. Five Points was home to more riots, prostitution, scams and drunkenness. By reading an excerpt of Anbinder's
Five Points
, students are able to get a complete picture of the immigrant experience in one of America's most notorious neighborhoods. This text would work well alongside Jacobs'
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
, because they are documenting the same time period in New York City.
Angelou, Maya.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
New York: Random House, 1969.
In this autobiography and coming of age story, Angelou documents how one can overcome racism and trauma. Subjects such as racism, identity, rape, and literacy are explored. It is very difficult to read this text in it's entirety with in a short period of time; therefore, I recommend using excerpt that highlight her experience as a migrant to urban American cities.
Cisneros, Sandra.
The House on Mango Street
. New York: Vintage Books, 1984.
Cisneros write a coming of age story of a young Latina girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. She is trying to find a way to fit in her neighborhood, as well as her finding place in the world. This novel is beneficial because it speaks to a young girl's hopes of achieving a better life than the one she has in this urban setting.
Crane, Stephen.
Maggie: Girl of the Streets.
New York: Random House, 1984.
Crane writes about a young girl from the Bowery, who is driven to unfortunate circumstances due to poverty and solitude. Maggie was written during a time when an influx of immigrants contributed to a population boom, many of whom lived in extreme poverty. This text is useful because it documents the immigrant experience in New York's Lower East Side. Each character and their situation can be applied to the immigrant experience during this time period.
Grossman, James.
Land of Hope
:
Chicago, Black Southerners and the Great Migration
. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Grossman analyzes the Black migration to Chicago during World War I, also known as the Great Migration. This is a text that would be most useful as an excerpt, looking closely at why Blacks decided to migrate, and what they encountered once they arrived in Chicago. Also, this text would work well as a compare and contrast to the Mexican American experience in George Sanchez's
Becoming a Mexican American
. In addition, Jacob Lawrence's
Migration Series
is a great visual representation of the points that Grossman touches on in text.
Gruwell, Erin.
The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them
. New York: Random House, 1999.
The Freedom Writers Diary is comprised of journals that Erin Gruwell told her students to write in about the troubles of their past, present and future. The students are from Long Beach, CA and come from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but share a common experience because of where they are from. This is the most modern text on the list. It should be read independently by students, as a model for how they should document their experience of growing up in an urban environment, as well as how their environment has affected them.
Hareven, Tamara.
Amoskeag
:
Life and Work in an American Factory City
. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.
This book captures life for adolescents working in a New England factory city during the early 20
th
century. First hand accounts of immigrants becoming American citizens are featured, as they work machines that were becoming a booming industry in America. This text has a wealth of information; however, excerpting the chapter entitled, "First Generation" would be most beneficial, because it functions as a primary source. Immigrants account their experience as new Americans and workers, many of them teenagers. These accounts give direct insight as to why these young immigrants migrated to America.
Jacobs, Harriet.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
Boston: 1861.
Best used as an excerpt, Jacobs give a first hand account of a young girl's desperation to escape from slavery and the promise of the North. Upon arriving in the North, the reality of"bondage" is still present as she fights for her children and a better life. This text offers insight to how the North was viewed by Black slaves, and what they encountered once they arrived.
Lawrence, Jacob.
Experience- Jacob Lawrence Migration Series.
The Phillips Collection, 2013. Web. 20 Jun. 2013.
As a visual interpretation of the Great Migration., this series by Jacob Lawrence brings James Grossman's
Land of Hope to Life
. Students should be allowed to select pieces from the series that connects with the Grossman reading.
Marshall, Paule,
Brown Girl, Brownstones.
New York: The Feminist Press, 1981.
Appearing to be somewhat autobiographical, Marshall describes the life of Barbadian immigrants in Brooklyn during the Great Depression and World War II. The parents suffer racism and extreme poverty, but the focus is on the growth and development of the main character. To offer a challenge to students, I would pair this book with either Sone's
Nisei Daughter
or Wong's
Fifth Chinese Daughter
. Students will be forced to find commonalities and differences that reach beyond race and ethnic groupings.
Moody, Anne.
Coming of Age in Mississippi
. New York: Laurel Books, 1976.
In this memoir, Moody writes about growing up in ruralin the mid-20th century as an woman. The text covers her life beginning from childhood until her late twenties, including her involvement in the. This is a story of struggles both against, from white people andfrom her fellow civil rights activists. Reading this text is a great way to contrast the experience of a southern African American adolescent to that of immigrant Dominican growing up in the North by using Alverez's
How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents
.
Nasaw, David.
Children of the City: At Work and At Play.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday Page and Company, 1985.
Best used as an excerpt, Nasaw portrays the stories of children and their families. Chapter two describes how children growing up in the city have to adjust to overcrowded conditions and create room for play where there isn't any. This excerpt would well with Jacob Riis'
How the Other Half Lives
and
Bread Givers
.
Riis, Jacob.
How the Other Half Lives.
New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1971.
Through photo essays, Riis is able to breathe life into the immigrant/migrant experience of late 19
th
century New York City slums. He not only brings the living conditions of the people in his photos to life for the students today, but he made it hard for the middle and upper class of the late 19
th
century to ignore. This text is useful when paired with any text listed above in the same time period of Riis' work. His photos provide visual representations of what the living conditions of that time period are described as. Excerpts of pictures can be selected depending on the text chosen for pairing.
Snow Wong, Jade.
Fifth Chinese Daughter
. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1945.
This text is one of two autobiographical volumes written by Snow Wong. In this text, she describes her struggles with balancing her identity as an Asian American woman with Chinese traditions. This book offers an opportunity for comparison and contrast when coupled with Sone's
Nisei Daughter
, because these are two Asian American young women, growing up in West Coast cities, and around World War II.
Sone, Monica.
Nisei Daughter
. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1953.
Sone tells the story, in the form of a memoir, ofa Japanese immigrant family's life in the United States before and during the war. Sone's parents are from Japan, first generation (Issei), and their children are born in the States, making them second generation(, as in the title). This text explores the cultural differences the family faced before World War II, both in the States and on a visit to Japan, the impact of World War II on the treatment of the family and the experiencing of the.This text should be read along side Jade Snow Wong's
Fifth Chinese Daughter
, not because they both document Asian American experiences, but because they offer an opportunity to compare immigrant experiences from the same time period.
Sanchez, George.
Becoming a Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Sanchez examines the relationship between ethnicity and identity to the city of Los Angeles. He explores how newly arrived Mexican immigrants "Americanized" themselves, as well as the process by which temporary travelers visitors changed their path to that of permanent residents. Excerpting chapter two from this text would work well with Grossman's
Land of Hope
.
Yezierska, Anzia.
Bread Givers
. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Page and Company, 1925.
Yezierska tells the story of a young Polish girl growing with immigrant parents. This text is useful in exploring a family's financial struggles and dynamic, and the struggle between Sara, who yearns for American ideals and independence, and her father, who clings obsessively to traditional Jewish culture.