We are Home by Ray Suarez

WE ARE HOME by Ray Suarez (Latino Americans) is subtitled “Becoming American in the 21st Century: an Oral History.”  When reading this text, I was struck by how at least some Americans seem to easily forget that we are a nation of immigrants – according to the most recent Census report, 13.9 percent, or roughly one in seven of us are foreign born. That means nearly everyone would have friends and neighbors, even family, amongst these 46.2 million people. As Suarez notes, it is even more astounding when one realizes that a quarter of Americans are foreign-born themselves or the children of foreign born residents. In WE ARE HOME, he shares the stories of several immigrants, including Samir (from Yemen, but grew up in Kenya and won a lottery for his family to come to the USA), Margaret (from Scotland who met her husband in Iran and settled in the US after that revolution), and Jaime (from El Salvador whose father applied for asylum). Suarez weaves in facts about historical changes like the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and other statistics although the preview of his text sadly lacks any notes or bibliography. Overall, I think Suarez is trying to humanize and personalize the immigrant experience, but he takes a winding path to make key points about how immigrants contribute to American life. With an aging population, we need each other more than ever. One example is the March 2024 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges which projected the shortage of doctors in the United States to be 86,000 by 2036. Even the Wall Street Journal has run several articles concerned about nursing shortages and new State Department proposals which could limit the number of au pairs allowed to work here. Hopefully, there are stories in WE ARE HOME and from resources like Pew Research Center and Migration Policy Institute that can contribute to a fact-based sharing of information on the important, but divisive, topic of immigration reform.

On the Move by Abrahm Lustgarten

ON THE MOVE by Abrahm Lustgarten is subtitled “The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America.” Lustgarten, an investigative journalist for ProPublica, points to several main factors that have already begun to impact movement in the USA: wildfires; flooding (especially in coastal regions); extreme heat or humidity; and droughts. He vividly cites research such as: “Scientists estimate that as many as one in three people on the planet will find the places they live unmanageably hot or dry by 2070.” In the USA alone, he notes that five million climate migrants “could translate to a shift of fifty million additional people by the end of the century.” His perspective – that our lack of preparation for climate change will intensify differences between rich and poor – is supported by his extensive and disturbing research. For example, he notes that “a study published in 2021 in the journal Cities examining the resilience policies of the 101 largest U.S. cities found that 31 of them had no policies whatsoever, and that only 33 had conducted any sort of evaluation of their climate vulnerability.” Lustgarten argues that even when change is attempted (as described in Atlanta or New Orleans), it often results in waves of gentrification, further separating communities. He goes so far as to say that “Climate change, however, is about to make the differences between winners and losers so extreme that they will threaten the underpinnings of the American economy and security.” Is it any wonder that we see declines in the happiness scale, especially for younger Americans? Lustgarten attempts to balance this by including a more uplifting section involving a discussion with an urban planner in Detroit who “recognizes that people are often prejudiced against refugees…. [and asks] what's a narrative that might galvanize people to see opportunity in welcoming outsiders?” Much to consider and to investigate further; ON THE MOVE contains multiple pages of notes and bibliographic references, plus an index. Other recent texts on this high interest topic of climate migration include Jack Bittle’s The Great Displacement and Nomad Century by Gaia Vince.

My Side of the River by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez

MY SIDE OF THE RIVER by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez offers a unique, although sad at times, perspective on being the child of immigrants. Gutierrez is a talented writer quite capable of evoking emotion. For example, it was difficult to read about the nights her parents worked as janitors at a movie theater and brought her (then a young toddler) and her infant brother to that work so the children could sleep and be safe. She chronicles her adventures through grade school and high school – including the absence of her parents for much of that time due to visa restrictions. While sharing her efforts to help a younger brother, this entire story poignantly highlights taking privilege for granted. MY SIDE OF THE RIVER deserves wide readership and discussion, perhaps even as a one library-one book or one school-one book program. I also hope that efforts will be made to advocate that this title (a painful “mirror” for first generation Americans and an informative “window” for others) be included in high school state reading award programs. The publisher has made a series of discussion questions available. Highly recommended.

It could be interesting, for example, to contrast this text with others about overcoming obstacles for economic opportunity in the United States like Class by Stephanie Land or with another (although much longer and more analytical) newly released text about immigration called Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer, a staff writer at The New Yorker – that also has a memorable, beautiful cover.  

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende

THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME has a stunning cover and is the latest work of historical fiction by Isabel Allende, an award winning author long fascinated by questions related to the immigrant experience (The Japanese Lover; In the Midst of Winter). Here, Allende relates the story of Samuel, a young Jew from Vienna and part of the Kindertransport; of Leticia, whose family was killed at the 1981 El Mozote massacre; and of Anita, a young, partially blind girl from El Salvador who was separated from her mother in 2019 by the US border police. Allende definitely evokes empathy for these characters. Each story is harrowing in its own way, but this very emotional novel ultimately ends on a hopeful note as they coalesce into a family unit of sorts. THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.

The Great Displacement by Jack Bittle

THE GREAT DISPLACEMENT by Jake Bittle joins a relatively small number of texts about climate migration, but journalist Bittle focuses on Climate Change and the Next American Migration, likely making his text more relatable for our national audience. That should be particularly true since he argues that “by the middle of the century, housing displacement will be the most visible and ubiquitous consequence of climate change” and estimates “in the United States alone, at least twenty million people may move as a result of climate change.” His examples are covered in separate chapters which deal, for example, with flooding in Houston, wildfires near Santa Rosa, drought in Arizona or rising seas near Norfolk. He discusses the role of government and business (e.g., insurance and agriculture) as well as offering individual relocation stories. The facts are well-documented with notes (followed by a helpful index) comprising roughly twenty-five percent of the text. THE GREAT DISPLACEMENT received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly. It would be interesting to compare some of his observations with data used in The New York Times interactive pieces on “The Climate Impact of Your Neighborhood, Mapped” or “Every Place Has Its Own Climate Risk. What Is It Where You Live?”

The Faraway World by Patricia Engel

THE FARAWAY WORLD by Patricia Engel is a short story collection that will enthrall readers much like Engel’s earlier award-winning novel, Infinite Country, which itself is a must read. These stories tend to be rather quiet, almost intimate, and reflective. Engel changes voice, too, sometimes writing directly to another character, such as “Libélula” where an employee speaks silently to her employer, saying, “You wanted a ghost, a shadow to move about your home anticipating your every need. A double as loyal as an imaginary friend to accompany you…” I was also surprised by the ending of “Fausto” after he and his girlfriend, Paz, succumb to the temptation of what they believe will be easy money for running drugs. And, I especially liked “Aguacero” about two troubled Columbians who meet in New York and attempt to share life stories; it had previously been selected in 2019 for both The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Best American Short Stories. Containing ten tales in all, THE FARAWAY WORLD received a starred review from Kirkus.

Nomad Century by Gaia Vince

NOMAD CENTURY by Gaia Vince (Transcendence; Adventures in the Anthropocene) is all about “How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World,” a topic which has been of high interest to our student researchers in the past few years. Her book has pre-pub blurbs from an impressive array of accessible non-fiction authors: Mary Roach, Bill McKibben, and Bill Bryson. Vince herself is an award-winning science journalist, author, broadcaster and speaker. Eloquently creating relevance, she states “Human movement on a scale never before seen will dominate this century and remake our world,” further noting "you will be among them, or you will be receiving them." She begins with a look at the nature of migration – both for people and “stuff.” A key point is the possibility of a “climate apartheid” where social inequality and poverty interact with climate change for even more devastating consequences. Vince devotes several chapters to outlining the problems, complete with shocking, but relatable, statistics (e.g., “the Welsh capital, Cardiff, is projected to be two-thirds under water by 2050”). The final chapters advocate for possible solutions (e.g., using technology like cloud brightening for solar reflectivity), including long-term efforts to restore areas for habitation by humans although many comments are rather general (e.g., “we must stop seeing the people who move as the problem, even if some of their reasons are”). Vince also includes an eight point manifesto, a few “further reading suggestions,” notes, and a helpful index, together comprising roughly twenty percent of the text. NOMAD CENTURY received a starred review from Kirkus. It is a call to action - sobering, but hopeful reading. 

8 Billion and Counting and Crossing Borders

8 BILLION AND COUNTING by Jennifer D. Sciubba is an examination of demographic trends and their policy implications, or, as the subtitle explains, a look at “How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World.”  Sciubba is an associate professor of International Studies at Rhodes College and a former demographics consultant to the United States Department of Defense. In this new text she wades through a great deal of statistics and offers plenty of numbers for the data geeks in her audience.  Simultaneously, she also stretches her readers' imaginations regarding social and cultural shifts.  For example, she describes extremes, referencing the aging population in Japan and the growth in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria whose population is projected to exceed that of the United States by 2050. In addition to discussing fertility rates and lifespans, Sciubba also turns to developing concerns like climate migration, a topic of interest in the past few years for our Junior Theme students. She devotes a chapter to “Warfare and Wombfare,” commenting “as the pace of demographic change accelerates – particularly ethnic, racial, and religious composition – we should expect identity conflicts to intensify.”  Another powerful chapter on economic impacts is titled “Marx versus Malthus.” Overall, Sciubba is very informative and encourages further probing; roughly thirty percent of the text is devoted to notes which will be invaluable for other researchers. Her surprisingly stimulating look at the future has also made me curious to investigate some of the related titles of interest to her readers such as The Human Tide, The Devil Never Sleeps, and The Agile College.

CROSSING BORDERS by Ali Noorani is subtitled “The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants” and focuses more narrowly on the immigration experience for individuals and families. President and CEO of the advocacy group named National Immigration Forum, Noorani shares stories based on his travels and conversations with immigrants and the organizations who support them. He writes eloquently of changes since the 2008 financial collapse, concluding that “Skepticism about immigration has become fear of immigrants” and that “By weaponizing immigration, Trump mainstreamed hate.” Noorani details visits to cities and towns in Arizona, Texas, and Honduras to support his views on the need for immigration reform. He cites numerous other examples and political actions, although seems to struggle to summarize key points. Roughly a third of this text is filled with notes, a bibliography, and a useful index. A list of resources  and contact information for places like the Migration Policy Institute, RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, in Texas) or even Pew Research Center would have been a valuable addition.