This book is non-fiction, but engaging and really short. It is based on the author’s experiences as an immigration court translator in New York, and focuses on the unaccompanied minor migrant “crisis” of 2014. By reflecting on the answers that children gave to questions on the intake questionnaire required for immigration proceedings, Luiselli shares stories highlighting the statistics, the journey, reasons why kids leave, the dilemmas of children finding legal assistance and their relatives. There’s a segment about the book on a This American Life radio broadcast and has received much praise. It’s very relevant to our current political context and has the potential to connect to many interdisciplinary activities across campus.
This book focuses on the 2015-16 refugee crisis of children from Guatemala, the Honduras, and El Salvador. It jumps around quite a bit, switching from the author’s own story of applying for a green card and her experiences translating for Central American child refugees going through immigration court in New York City. The book references important political/historical issues along the way, and provides a glimpse into the desperate lives of these children, who leave Central America largely because of drug wars. The topic is of obvious importance, and the children’s situations are heart-breaking. The author uses the 40 questions that the children are required to answer when they are screened, but the book lacks narrative momentum and coherence. On occasion, it veers into political opinions as well as profanity. For these reasons, I do not think it would work well as a common reading book selection.
I thought this was a very compelling book. It is short and quick. I learned a lot about immigration and what happens to children when they are picked up at the border. I think it would be a good book to put on a list of additional reading people might want to explore if they found the topic interesting.
This book is non-fiction, but engaging and really short. It is based on the author’s experiences as an immigration court translator in New York, and focuses on the unaccompanied minor migrant “crisis” of 2014. By reflecting on the answers that children gave to questions on the intake questionnaire required for immigration proceedings, Luiselli shares stories highlighting the statistics, the journey, reasons why kids leave, the dilemmas of children finding legal assistance and their relatives. There’s a segment about the book on a This American Life radio broadcast and has received much praise. It’s very relevant to our current political context and has the potential to connect to many interdisciplinary activities across campus.
This book focuses on the 2015-16 refugee crisis of children from Guatemala, the Honduras, and El Salvador. It jumps around quite a bit, switching from the author’s own story of applying for a green card and her experiences translating for Central American child refugees going through immigration court in New York City. The book references important political/historical issues along the way, and provides a glimpse into the desperate lives of these children, who leave Central America largely because of drug wars. The topic is of obvious importance, and the children’s situations are heart-breaking. The author uses the 40 questions that the children are required to answer when they are screened, but the book lacks narrative momentum and coherence. On occasion, it veers into political opinions as well as profanity. For these reasons, I do not think it would work well as a common reading book selection.
I thought this was a very compelling book. It is short and quick. I learned a lot about immigration and what happens to children when they are picked up at the border. I think it would be a good book to put on a list of additional reading people might want to explore if they found the topic interesting.