Immigration

The People and Cultures of New York

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The diverse peoples and cultures who call New York home are a huge part of what makes the state so unique. This book delves into the history of immigration in New York and the different cultures that have helped shape New York into the state it is today. Thoughtful text is supplemented by primary source documents and photographs that show New York in the past and as it is today.

Immigration to the United States (2004)

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Revisit America's history of immigration through the correspondence between young Mai in China, and her Grandfather who lives halfway around the world. Follow the trail of letters as grandfather allays Mai's fear of the unknown. He answers her many questions about America's history of immigration.

Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

Length:

00:20

Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna)

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Even across thousands of miles, the special bond between a mother and a son can never be broken. It gives hope to Carlitos, a scrappy nine-year-old boy whose mother, Rosario, has gone to America to build a better life for both of them. While Rosario struggles for a brighter future, fate forces Carlitos' hand and he embarks on an extraordinary journey to find her. Critics and audiences alike have praised this inspirational and heartwarming tale of a mother's devotion, a son's courage and a love that knows no borders.

Director:

Patricia Riggen

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

01:50

Immigrant Kids (Unabridged)

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Many people came to America in the early 1900s looking for jobs, opportunity, and freedom, and a lot of them were kids. But what happened to all these immigrant children after they passed inspection at New York’s Ellis Island - that is, if they passed inspection? Life was not easy for immigrants. Large families lived in small, one-room tenement apartments with failing plumbing and few windows.

Author:

Russell Freedman

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

1050L

Length:

00:40

Rodzina (Unabridged)

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In 1881, 12-year-old Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski wishes she didn't have to board the orphan train in Chicago. But she has no home, no family, and no choice. Rodzina doesn't believe the orphans are on their way out West to be adopted by good families. She's sure they will become slaves to strangers. Anyway, who would ever adopt a large, tough, stubborn girl of Polish origin?

Author:

Karen Cushman

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

740L

Length:

04:48

Letters from Rifka (Unabridged)

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Rifka knows nothing about America when she flees from Russia with her family in 1919. But she dreams that in the new country she will at last be safe from the Russian soldiers and their harsh treatment of the Jews. Throughout her journey, Rifka carries with her a cherished volume of poetry by Alexander Pushkin.

Author:

Karen Hesse

Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

Lexile:

660L

Length:

03:02

Inside Out and Back Again

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Vietnam-born author Thanhha Lai bursts onto the literary scene with Inside Out & Back Again - her National Book Award-winning debut. Written in rich, free-verse poems, this moving tale follows a young Vietnamese girl as she leaves her war-torn homeland for America in 1975.

Author:

Thanhha Lai

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

800L

Length:

02:30

The Unforgotten Coat

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Copies: 7

When two Mongolian brothers inexplicably appear one morning in her sixth grade class, Julie, who lives in a town near Liverpool named Bootle, becomes their new friend and "Good Guide," navigating them through soccer, school uniforms, and British slang.

Author:

Frank Cottrell Boyce

Lexile:

710L

From Kosovo to the United States

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The firsthand account of Isau Ajeti.

Dragonwings

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Moon Shadow is eight when he sails from China to join his father, Windrider, in America. Windrider lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown and works in a laundry. Moon Shadow has never seen him.

Moon Shadow soon loves and respects this father, a man of genius, a man with a fabulous dream. With Moon Shadows help, Windrider is willing to endure the mockery of the other Chinese, the poverty, and longing for his own country to make his dream come true.

Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain

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Copies: 7

Early in the twentieth century, most Asian immigrants bound for America disembarked at a rocky island in San Francisco Bay. At the Angel Island Immigration Station, they were scrutinized, physically examined, interrogated, and confined behind barbed wire in crowded dormitories. Detainees often waited weeks or months to be processed. Those who passed inspection were allowed to enter the country known to many Chinese as Gold Mountain. Others, less fortunate, were sent back home or even died in detention.

Author:

Russell Freedman

Lexile:

1140L

Mission US: City of Immigrants

In Mission 4: “City of Immigrants,” players navigate New York’s Lower East Side as Lena, a young Jewish immigrant from Russia. Trying to save money to bring her parents to America, she works long hours in a factory for little money and gets caught up in the growing labor movement.

1990s to 2010

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Provides a comprehensive examination of Hispanics in America from the 1990s to 2010s, introducing key figures and events. Features illustrations, photographs, sidebars, a glossary, a timeline, and a list of resources for further study.

Climate Migrants: On the Move in a Warming World

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Copies: 6

Around the world, from US coastal towns to island nations of the Pacific and the deserts of Africa, people are in danger of losing their homes. Some have already fled. Others know they are running out of time. By 2050, at least 25 million people will be driven from their homes due to the effects of climate change.

Author:

Rebecca E. Hirsch

Lexile:

1230L

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Immigration to the United States (2004)