Immigrants & Refugees

This compilation of study guides features the personal histories of immigrants and refugees from countries around the globe, including Haiti, Mexico, Syria, Rwanda, and others. Readers will learn more about the melding of cultures through these diverse stories: a perilous escape from Communist-ruled Vietnam; one woman’s journey through seven African countries to America; and memoirs about crossing the US-Mexico border. Common themes in this collection focus on identity, the dehumanization of refugees, and the struggle to find belonging in a new home.

Of Beetles and Angels

by Mawi Asgedom

Publication year 2001

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Appearance & Reality

Tags Immigration & Refugeeism, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Biography

Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard is the memoir of Selamawi “Mawi” Asgedom. Mawi recounts overcoming numerous disadvantages as an African refugee and ascending to the highest reaches of American society, ultimately graduating from Harvard University with top honors in 1999. Through Mawi’s story, the book explores the experiences of refugees in America. Born in September 1979, in Adi Wahla, Ethiopia, Mawi and his family flee Ethiopia due... Read Of Beetles and Angels Summary

Of Women and Salt

by Gabriela Garcia

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Immigration, Mothers, Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Immigration & Refugeeism, Gender & Feminism, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

... Read Of Women and Salt Summary

One Today

by Richard Blanco

Publication year 2013

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Language, Hope, Future, The Past, Community, Politics & Government, Equality

Tags LGBTQ+, Politics & Government, Immigration & Refugeeism

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Open City

by Teju Cole

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Self Discovery, Memory, The Past, Friendship, Colonialism, Immigration

Tags American Literature, Psychological Fiction, Immigration & Refugeeism, Race & Racism, 9/11, Modern Classic Fiction

Teju Cole’s first full-length novel, Open City was published in 2011 to widespread acclaim, winning the PEN/Hemingway Award, The New York City Book Award, and the Rosenthal Foundation Award. Open City made many lists of the best books of the year, including at the New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Times, and NPR. Cole was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Nigerian parents and spent most of his childhood in Lagos, Nigeria before returning... Read Open City Summary

Other Words for Home

by Jasmine Warga

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Fear, Race, Family

Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Immigration & Refugeeism, Diversity, Race & Racism, American Literature, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Arts & Culture

... Read Other Words for Home Summary

Out Of Nowhere

by Maria Padian

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Language, Perseverance, Teamwork, Immigration

Tags Sports, Immigration & Refugeeism, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Arts & Culture

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Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

by Marjane Satrapi, Transl. Anjali Singh

Publication year 2004

Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction

Themes Coming of Age, Religion & Spirituality, Politics & Government

Tags Middle Eastern History, Gender & Feminism, Immigration & Refugeeism

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return is the sequel to Marjane Satrapi’s bestselling graphic memoir, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, which was published in four volumes between 2000 and 2003. The early memoir documents Marjane’s childhood in Iran during the transition to fundamentalist Islamic control and concludes in her departure at age 14 in 1984. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return was released in 2004 and documents the author’s teenage years in... Read Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return Summary

Persimmons

by Li-Young Lee

Publication year 1986

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Fathers, Language, Immigration, Objects & Materials, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Love, Food

Tags Lyric Poem, Ekphrastic, Free Verse, Relationships, Immigration & Refugeeism, Arts & Culture, Confessional, Asian Literature

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Properties of Thirst

by Marianne Wiggins

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Grief, Memory, Perseverance, Nation, Justice, Politics & Government

Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Arts & Culture, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Food, Grief & Death, US History, World History, Immigration & Refugeeism, Incarceration, Military & War, Philosophy, Politics & Government, Love & Sexuality, Relationships, Social Justice

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Rain of Gold

by Victor Villaseñor

Publication year 1991

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Tags Immigration & Refugeeism, Latin American Literature, Arts & Culture, World History, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Classic Fiction

Rain of Gold recounts author Victor Villaseñor’s family history through the early 20th century, when his parents immigrated to America to escape the violence of the Mexican Revolution. The book was inspired by stories from his grandmother and father, which Villaseñor came to view with skepticism as an adult. He devoted 12 years to researching his family’s history, which included conducting hundreds of hours of interviews with his parents, Lupe and Juan Salvador, and embarking... Read Rain of Gold Summary

Refugee Boy

by Benjamin Zephaniah

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, War, Family

Tags Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Immigration & Refugeeism, Education, Education, Military & War, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Schindler's List

by Thomas Keneally

Publication year 1982

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Good & Evil, Guilt, Justice, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Hate & Anger, Race, War

Tags Historical Fiction, Holocaust, World War II, Life-Inspired Fiction, Race & Racism, World History, Immigration & Refugeeism, Incarceration, Military & War, Politics & Government, Social Justice, Sociology, Trauma & Abuse, Classic Fiction, Biography

Schindler’s List (originally titled Schindler’s Ark) is a 1982 historical novel by Australian author Thomas Keneally. It tells the story of Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party who used his position as a German industrialist to save more than 1,200 people’s lives during the war. In protecting as many people as he could from the genocidal Nazi regime, Schindler risked being sent to a concentration camp himself. Keneally wrote the novel with the... Read Schindler's List Summary

Severance

by Ling Ma

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Immigration, Place, Language, Family, Safety & Danger, Mothers, Death, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Daughters & Sons, The Past, Guilt, Shame & Pride, Grief, Fathers, Nostalgia, Apathy, Loneliness, Self Discovery

Tags Satirical Literature, Science Fiction, Survival Fiction, Chinese Literature, Immigration & Refugeeism, Modern Classic Fiction

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Shanghai Girls

by Lisa See

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Siblings, Fate, Race, Family, Emotions/Behavior: Courage

Tags Asian Literature, World History, Chinese Literature, Arts & Culture, Historical Fiction, Immigration & Refugeeism, Asian Literature

Shanghai Girls (May 2009) is a New York Times bestselling historical novel by Lisa See. It is the first of a two-book series that concludes with Dreams of Joy (2011). The author’s paternal great-grandfather emigrated from China, and many of See’s books examine the Chinese immigrant experience in America. Other titles that cover similar subject matter are Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), Peony in Love (2007), China Dolls (2014), The Tea Girl of... Read Shanghai Girls Summary