We knew we wanted to tackle this important topic during the election month because it’s such an important factor in our country. We have always prided ourselves on being a “melting pot” of populations in this country. Our history is built on immigration and yet our recent policies around migrants are controversial. As we explore the migrant experience in America this month, we encourage you to look closely at the policies in your states and learn more. Below is our list of 15 books about immigration from historical to modern fiction to non-fiction stories.
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This contemporary fiction book tells the story of Ifemelu and Obinze who are young and in love when they leave war-torn Nigeria. Ifemelu comes to the United States and despite plans to follow her, Obinze cannot come to post-9/11 America.
The saga takes place over a 15-year period when Ifemelu and Obinze are reunited in Nigeria. It is intense and deeply emotional.
Trigger Warnings
Racism, Sexual Assault, Suicide
Why Jackie loves it
I read this book with a very heavy heart as it seemed like tragedy after tragedy befell these two individuals. However, with that said, this book is amazingly written and a true work of art.
15-year-old Ana dreams of moving to America, envisioning a life of glamour, wealth, and freedom. She accepts the hand of a husband twice her age to fulfill her dreams but is in for quite an awakening when she makes it to the Bronx. Miserable in her life, Ana is forced to choose between duty to her family and her dreams.
Why Kirsten loves it
I was blown away by Cruz’s latest coming-of-age novel which explores her Dominican roots. Her immigrant story was filled with strength and courage throughout a year-and-a-half, as meek Ana is molded into a strong woman. I can see why this book was chosen as the first book for the Good Morning America Book Club #gifted by Libro.FM
Honestly, I love this story about immigration, Wall Street, and the American dream. Jende and Nedi’s story about their move from Cameroon and how it affects their marriage and their morals was compulsively readable. It starts in 2007 when Jende takes a job as a chauffeur for a wealthy Lehman Brothers executive, and then Nedi gets employed at the family’s summer home in the Hamptons. Just as the Jende and Nedi are starting to settle in, the downfall of Lehman Brothers upends their lives.
Trigger Warnings
Drug Use, Alcoholism
Why Kirsten loves it
This contemporary fiction story was recommended to me so often in the past few years that I was worried it wouldn’t live up to the hype. My library hold finally came due so I took the plunge. WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG? I couldn’t put it down. Don’t wait as long as I did to read this amazing novel.
A story about four mother-daughter pairs who recently immigrated to San Franciso from China, this is such a classic that it’s often seen on required reading lists for high schools. The story is spread over 40 years starting in 1949 and is often time profound in its examination of the mother/daughter dynamic.
I initially picked up this non-fiction book as research for November’s reading challenge prompt.I kept reading because I learned so much about just how much our prison system needs to be reform, how unfair we are as a country to immigrants, and how we need to pay close attention to the politics surrounding migrants and their treatment.
Two lovers are separated in the mists of war and are reunited later in life.The relationship between the characters is reminiscent of Outlander. The story is all about the treatment of Japanese immigrants in the United States during World War 2. I had no idea about the darker side of our country (and the internment camps) until I read this book. It was eye-opening.
Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers who are born secretly to a nun and a surgeon. They are orphaned when their mother dies and their father disappears.
This sweeping family saga is set over three decades, from Ethiopia to America, as Ethiopia is on the brink of a revolution.
Trigger Warnings
Medical Trauma
Why Jackie loves it
This is another epic family saga that is a stunning choice for fans of the sub-genre.
The story starts with Lydia and her 8-year-old son Luca as they hide from the cartel, who are massacring their entire extended family. The opening is heart-pounding — the jolt it gives to your heart never lets up.
Lydia and Luca then have to make the perilous journey North as migrants. What they go through as they try to outrun the cartel is devastating, thought-provoking, and scary. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I never knew that a scene about putting a band-aid on a blister could be so suspenseful. I don’t want to tell any details because this story is about the unfolding of real-time events and the backstory that led to the massacre.
Trigger Warnings
Murder, Rape
Why Kirsten loves it
My heart did not stop pounding the entire time I read this book. I know that there is a lot of controversy surrounding this book. However, I read this book for what it was- a work of fiction rather than non-fiction.
Gifty is a PhD candidate at Stanford who is studying depression and addiction through mice. Her brother died of a heroin overdose after becoming addicted to oxy after a sports injury and her suicidal mother lives her life in bed.
Covering drug addiction, immigration, racism, and more, this story is as entertaining as it is stimulating. Its discussion of drug addiction’s impact on the larger family unit was reminiscent of Long Bright River.
Trigger Warnings
Addiction, drug abuse, mental illness, racism.
Why Kirsten loves it
This is a beautifully written and powerful book. I also kept having to remind myself that it was a contemporary fiction story and not a memoir because the emotion and knowledge expressed in the book were so believable.
This gripping memoir of Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez and her experience living in the U.S. when her parents were forced back to Mexico was a one-siting read for me. Born in America to illegal immigrants, she was just 15 years old when her parents couldn’t get their visitor’s visas renewed, leaving Elizabeth responsible for her young brother in America.
Soon her brother is reunited with her parents while Elizabeth is left to couch surf as she tries to graduate High School in the hopes of making it to an Ivy League college and better the lives of her entire family in the process.
Why Kirsten loves it
Elizabeth’s candid, vulnerability shines a light on the hardships immigrant families face in both facing prejudice and gaining access to the American dream. Her story is a true testament to grit and survival in the face of adversity.
More info: A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best of 2020!
Age Range: 14+
Plot
Wowza. This is the book American Dirt should have been, an own-voice tale of the migrant journey into the USA. This tale doesn’t give erroneous detail to lighten the load of the harrowing, impossible journey to the north.
Instead, it delivers staggering truths about how and why migrants risk their lives for the possibility of a better life. It’s a must-read for anyone looking to learn more about immigration in America.
Trigger Warnings
Death, Child death
Why Kirsten loves it
This is such a poignant story that is so well-written. It will tug at your heartstrings and give you a different perspective on the migrant journey to the USA.
I was blown away by Javier Zamora’s memoir about his solo journey to America. At just 9-years-old, he traversed 3,000 miles, to reunite with his parents in America.
While his grandpa accompanies him for the beginning of his journey, they soon have to part ways and he is left in the care of the adults traveling with him on his journey.
Trigger Warnings
Deportation, Racism
Why Kirsten loves it
This story is seared into my memory. I was so grateful for the mother on the journey who took him in as her own. Frustrated, sorrowful, and ultimately joy were all emotions I felt while reading this book.
This story of an immigrant family split apart by US policy and ICE had such potential, but I had trouble keeping the timeline and the characters all straight in my head. It’s told from the mother, father, and one daughter’s point of view.
Trigger Warnings
Animal Cruelty, Rape
Why Kirsten loves it
The struggles of a husband and wife separated for almost a decade were heartbreaking, but the way it was laid out had me confused and frustrated.
Annabelle opens this memoir with the arrest of her mother for shooting at someone who was plucking mangos off her beloved tree. But then the story returns to Annabelle’s struggles as a child to live an average life with her fellow Floridians, while her mother can’t seem to acclimate to American society at all.
Most compelling were the chapters when Annabelle travels with her mother to her ancestral hometown in the Philippines. Never was the dichotomy of her family’s perception of her American life compared to her lived reality more strongly present than in these chapters.
Why I Liked It: I found Annabelle’s story captivating from the open moments of the “your mom’s been arrested” phone call she receives. It was eye-opening to see the realities of what so many immigrants suffer in their quest to live the American Dream, while also being the hope for their families still living abroad.
As a mother of two boys, Kirsten rediscovered her life-long love for reading while choosing appropriate books for her children. She started this website with Jackie to share their passion for literacy with other moms and kids. She uses her years of experience in marketing and public relations to create quarterly magazines, implement social media strategy, and ensure the website content is relevant and beautiful.
