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Books about Immigration
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
by Michael Chabon
Two cousins create a comic book superhero and find success and adventure in 1940s New York.
The novel begins in 1939 with the arrival of 19-year-old Josef "Joe" Kavalier as a refugee in New York City , where he comes to live with his 17-year-old cousin, Sammy Klayman. With the help of his ... (Wikipedia)
Speak, Memory
by Vladimir Nabokov
Autobiographical journey exploring the intimate memories of author's past.
This is an older alternate cover edition for ISBN 0141183225/ 9780141183220. A newer edition may be found here . From one of the 20th century's great writers comes one of the finest autobiographies ... (Goodreads)
The Satanic Verses
by Salman Rushdie
An exploration into the clash between faith and reason, with a controversial narrative of religious satire.
Just before dawn one winter's morning, a hijacked jetliner explodes above the English Channel. Through the falling debris, two figures, Gibreel Farishta, the biggest star in India, and Saladin ... (Goodreads)
Orphan Train
by Christina Baker Kline
A story of two women's intertwined lives, spanning generations and crossing continents.
The #1 New York Times Bestseller “A lovely novel about the search for family that also happens to illuminate a fascinating and forgotten chapter of America’s history. Beautiful.”—Ann Packer Moving ... (Barnes & Noble)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
by Dee Brown
An in-depth account of the displacement of Native American tribes by the US government.
Now a special 30th-anniversary edition in both hardcover and paperback, the classic bestselling history The New York Times called "Original, remarkable, and finally heartbreaking...Impossible to put ... (Goodreads)
Angela's Ashes
by Frank McCourt
A memoir of poverty and hardship in 1930s Ireland, and a family's struggle to survive.
Imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion. This is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic. "When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to ... (Goodreads)
Shanghai Girls
by Lisa See
Two sisters navigate the turmoil of 1930s Shanghai, while struggling to protect each other.
Shanghai Girls is divided into three parts: Fate, Fortune, and Destiny. Here See treats Chinese immigration from a personal view through Pearl's narration. In, On Gold Mountain, she objectively ... (Wikipedia)
The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye
by David Lagercrantz
A young woman's quest for justice, taking vengeance against those who have wronged her.
Lisbeth Salander is serving a two month jail sentence for the crimes she committed while protecting August Balder. After threats arise against her, she is transferred to maximum security Flodberga ... (Wikipedia)
Sea of Poppies
by Amitav Ghosh
A colorful adventure across the Indian Ocean, bringing together a diverse ensemble of characters.
At the heart of this vibrant saga is a vast ship, the Ibis. Her destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean shortly before the outbreak of the Opium Wars in China. In a time of colonial ... (Goodreads)
My Ántonia
by Willa Cather
A young man's reminiscences of his childhood in rural Nebraska, and of his friendships with the immigrants he met there.
Orphaned Jim Burden rides the trains from Virginia to Black Hawk, Nebraska, where he will live with his paternal grandparents. Jake, a farmhand from Virginia, rides with the 10-year-old boy. On the ... (Wikipedia)
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
A sweeping journey of two twin brothers and their search for identity, belonging and family.
The story is told by the protagonist, Marion Stone. He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa , in ... (Wikipedia)
The Complete Maus
by Art Spiegelman
A graphic novel depicting a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and his son's journey to understand the past.
On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the ... (Goodreads)
The Woman Warrior
by Maxine Hong Kingston
A personal memoir of identity and culture, told through Chinese mythology and folklore.
The book is divided into five interconnected chapters, which read like short stories. In the first part of this chapter, the narrator is recounting how her mother once told her the story of the ... (Wikipedia)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Díaz
An exploration of love, identity, and the power of fate in a family's struggles and triumphs.
Oscar de León (nicknamed Oscar Wao, a bastardization of Oscar Wilde ) is an overweight Dominican growing up in Paterson, New Jersey. Oscar desperately wants to be successful with women but, from a ... (Wikipedia)
Small Island
by Andrea Levy
A story of post-WWII immigration, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and racism.
Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken, her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received ... (Goodreads)
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
by David McCullough
Story of the American artists, writers, scientists, and others who flocked to Paris in the 19th century, searching for inspiration and creativity.
The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring - and until now, untold - story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set ... (Goodreads)
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
by Balli Kaur Jaswal
An unlikely group of women come together to embrace their freedom and explore their sexuality.
Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club Pick A lively, sexy, and thought-provoking East-meets-West story about community, friendship, and women’s lives at all ages—a spicy and alluring mix of, Together Tea, ... (Barnes & Noble)
Arch of Triumph: A Novel of a Man Without a Country
by Erich Maria Remarque
A refugee's struggle for survival in a world of turmoil and violence in 1930s Europe.
Set in 1939, and, despite having no permission to perform surgery, Ravic, a very accomplished German surgeon and a stateless refugee living in Paris, has been ghost-operating on patients for two ... (Wikipedia)
Americanah
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
An exploration of race, identity, and belonging as two Nigerian immigrants experience life in America and beyond.
Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to ... (Goodreads)
The Sympathizer
by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Vietnam War refugee returns to his homeland and struggles to reconcile conflicting loyalties.
It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be ... (Goodreads)
Little Bee
by Chris Cleave
A Nigerian refugee's quest for survival and a British woman's search for redemption.
Using alternating first-person perspectives , the novel tells the stories of Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee, and Sarah O'Rourke (née Summers), a magazine editor from Surrey . After spending two years ... (Wikipedia)
Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
A young girl and her family flee Vietnam, adapting to a new life in America.
Inside Out and Back Again is a story about a young girl named Kim Hà and her family, consisting of her Mother and three brothers, being forced to move to the United States because the Vietnam War had ... (Wikipedia)
Centennial
by James A. Michener
Epic journey through the history of the American West, painting a vivid picture of its people and culture.
Written to commemorate the Bicentennial in 1976, James A. Michener’s magnificent saga of the West is an enthralling celebration of the frontier. Brimming with the glory of America’s past, the story ... (Goodreads)
One Summer: America, 1927
by Bill Bryson
A vivid portrait of America in the summer of 1927, featuring a host of historical figures and events.
In One Summer Bill Bryson, one of our greatest and most beloved nonfiction writers, transports readers on a journey back to one amazing season in American life. The summer of 1927 began with one of ... (Goodreads)
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story
by Hyeonseo Lee
A harrowing journey of escape from a repressive regime and the struggle to find a new life in freedom.
An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world’s most ruthless and secretive dictatorships – and the story of one woman’s terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her ... (Goodreads)
The Bonesetter's Daughter
by Amy Tan
A Chinese-American woman rediscovers her heritage, uncovering her family's deep past.
Ruth is a self-sufficient woman who makes her living as a ghostwriter for self-help books . She lives with her boyfriend, Art Kamen, and acts as a stepmother to Art's two teenage daughters, Dory and ... (Wikipedia)
White Teeth
by Zadie Smith
A multi-generational saga exploring identity, race, and culture in modern-day London.
On New Year's Day 1975, Archie Jones, a 47-year-old Englishman whose disturbed Italian wife has just walked out on him, is attempting to take his own life by gassing himself in his car when a chance ... (Wikipedia)
The Thing Around Your Neck
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Collection of stories about the struggles and triumphs of Nigerian immigrants in America.
Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, the stories in The Thing Around Your Neck map, with Adichie's signature emotional wisdom, the collision of two cultures and the deeply ... (Goodreads)
Manhattan Beach
by Jennifer Egan
A female-led story of crime, courage and sacrifice set in 1940s Brooklyn.
Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea ... (Goodreads)
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
by Lisa See
A woman's search for identity in the face of cultural expectations and familial secrets.
In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for ... (Goodreads)
The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri
A young Indian-American's journey of reconciling two different cultures and his own identity.
The story begins as Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, a young Bengali couple, leave Calcutta , India, and settle in Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts . Ashoke is an engineering student at the ... (Wikipedia)
The Jungle
by Upton Sinclair
An expose of the brutal working conditions in the early 20th century meatpacking industry.
Jurgis Rudkus marries his fifteen-year-old sweetheart, Ona Lukoszaite, in a joyous traditional Lithuanian wedding feast. They and their extended family have recently immigrated to Chicago due to ... (Wikipedia)
Pachinko
by Lee Min-jin
A saga spanning four generations of a Korean family living in Japan, struggling to survive and thrive amidst prejudice and poverty.
The novel takes place over the course of three books: Book I Gohyang/Hometown, Book II Motherland, and Book III Pachinko. In 1883, in the little island fishing village of Yeongdo , which is a ferry ... (Wikipedia)
The Golem and the Jinni
by Helene Wecker
Two supernatural creatures from different mythologies, living in New York City, find companionship and friendship in each other.
In the Polish town of Konin at the end of the 19th century, a corrupt kabbalist named Yehudah Schaalman creates a golem in the shape of a woman at the request of young Otto Rotfeld, who seeks a ... (Wikipedia)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid
A Pakistani man's journey of identity and belonging, in a post-9/11 world.
At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter… Changez is ... (Goodreads)
Tatiana and Alexander
by Paullina Simons
A passionate love story between two people from different worlds, struggling to find a place in a rapidly changing world.
Tatiana is eighteen years old, pregnant, and widowed when she escapes war-torn Leningrad to find a new life in America. But the ghosts of her past do not rest easily. She becomes consumed by the ... (Goodreads)
And the Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini
Interconnected stories of family and love, tracing the consequences of decisions made throughout life.
The novel opens in the year 1952. Saboor, an impoverished farmer from the fictional village of Shadbagh, decides to sell his three-year-old daughter Pari to a wealthy, childless couple in Kabul. ... (Wikipedia)
Ragtime
by E.L. Doctorow
Interweaving stories of disparate individuals as they navigate the changing social and cultural landscape of early 20th century America.
The novel centers on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York , referred to as Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and 'the little boy', Father and Mother's young son. The ... (Wikipedia)
The Idiot
by Elif Batuman
A young woman's journey of self-discovery, learning to navigate the complexities of life.
Selin Karadağ is a freshman studying linguistics at Harvard University . She meets an older Hungarian mathematics student, Ivan, in a Russian language class and the two begin corresponding over ... (Wikipedia)
Brooklyn
by Colm Tóibín
A young Irish woman's migration to America, exploring themes of identity and belonging.
Eilis Lacey is a young woman who is unable to find work in 1950s Ireland . Her older sister Rose organises a meeting with a Catholic priest called Father Flood on a visit from New York City , who ... (Wikipedia)
Middlesex
by Jeffrey Eugenides
A multigenerational story of a hermaphrodite's journey to discovering his identity.
"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . ... (Barnes & Noble)
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America
by Firoozeh Dumas
A humorous tale of a family's journey to America and their adaptation to a new culture and lifestyle.
In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California, arriving with no firsthand knowledge of this country beyond her father's glowing memories of his ... (Goodreads)
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
by Ken Liu
Collection of science fiction and fantasy stories exploring themes of identity and belonging.
A publishing event: Bestselling author Ken Liu selects his award-winning science fiction and fantasy tales for a groundbreaking collection—including a brand-new piece exclusive to this volume. With ... (Goodreads)
My Beloved World
by Sonia Sotomayor
Autobiographical account of a Latina's path to the Supreme Court, overcoming personal and systemic obstacles.
The first Latinx (Puerto Rican) and third woman appointed to the US Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. Now, with a candor and intimacy never undertaken by a sitting ... (Goodreads)
Refugee
by Alan Gratz
Three children, three different times, all with a common goal of finding refuge.
A tour de force from acclaimed author Alan Gratz (,Prisoner B-3087,), this timely — and timeless — novel tells the powerful story of three different children seeking refuge. A, New York Times, ... (Barnes & Noble)
Echo
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
A magical story of courage, hope and friendship, connecting three different generations.
The framing story is set in Germany circa 1889; , while playing hide-and-seek with his friends, Otto becomes absorbed in a book he had purchased from a Gypsy entitled The Thirteenth Harmonica of Otto ... (Wikipedia)
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Journey of the Pilgrims from England to America, exploring their struggles and successes.
HOW DID AMERICA BEGIN? This simple question launches acclaimed author Nathaniel Philbrick on an extraordinary journey to understand the truth behind our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the ... (Goodreads)
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
by Heidi W. Durrow
A young black girl's story of survival, resilience, and self-discovery in a world of racial prejudice.
"The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, can actually fly." —,The New York Times Book Review, , Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a ... (Barnes & Noble)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
A coming of age story set in Brooklyn, depicting a young girl's struggles and growth.
The novel is split into five "books", each covering a different period in the characters' lives. Book One opens in 1912 and introduces 11-year-old Francie Nolan, who lives in the Williamsburg ... (Wikipedia)
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
by Michael Chabon
A murder mystery set in an alternate reality, with characters that explore the boundaries of identity and tradition.
The book opens with Meyer Landsman, an alcoholic homicide detective with the Sitka police department, examining the murder of a man in the hotel where Landsman lives. Beside the corpse lies an open ... (Wikipedia)
Zeitoun
by Dave Eggers
A man's struggle to survive and reunite with his family amidst the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Abdulrahman Zeitoun grew up in Syria. After a few years of apprenticeship in the Syrian port city of Jableh , Zeitoun spent twenty years working at sea as a muscleman, engineer and fisherman. During ... (Wikipedia)
The Bridges of Constantine
by Ahlam Mosteghanemi
A woman's exploration of her past and present, understanding the power of memory.
في حضور الوجدان تتألق معاني أحلام مستغانمي، وفي ذاكرة الجسد تتوج حضورها، حروفاً كلمات عبارات تتقاطر في حفل الغناء الروحي. موسيقاه الوطن المنبعث برغم الجراحات... مليون شهيد وثورة ومجاهد، وجزائر الثكلى ... (Goodreads)
Unaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Collection of stories exploring the complexities of family, culture, and identity.
From the internationally best-selling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight stories—longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet written—that take ... (Goodreads)
Secret Daughter
by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
An Indian woman's journey to find her daughter and redeem her past.
Somer's life is everything she imagined it would be — she's newly married and has started her career as a physician in San Francisco — until she makes the devastating discovery she never will be able ... (Goodreads)
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
by Anne Fadiman
Exploring the cultural divide between the Hmong people and the medical establishment.
Lia Lee was born in 1982 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she was living at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle of misunderstanding, ... (Goodreads)
Infidel
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
A memoir of a woman's journey of faith, identity, and self-liberation.
One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would ... (Goodreads)
In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
by Yeonmi Park
A young woman's harrowing escape from North Korea and her struggle to survive and thrive in a new country.
Human rights activist Park, who fled North Korea with her mother in 2007 at age 13 and eventually made it to South Korea two years later after a harrowing ordeal, recognized that in order to be ... (Goodreads)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
A touching story of the intersection of love, family, and culture during World War II.
Henry Lee, the son of Chinese parents in Seattle , Washington, is the only Asian child at his elementary school. His father makes him wear an "I Am Chinese" button so he will not be mistaken for a ... (Wikipedia)
Among the Impostors
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
A young boy's desperate attempt to discover his true identity amidst a world of secrets and lies.
Twelve-year-old Luke Garner is brought to Hendricks School for Boys by Mr. Talbot, the father of his dead best friend Jen. Luke is his parents’ third child and so is illegal under the country's ... (Wikipedia)
Ask the Dust
by John Fante
A young writer's journey of self-discovery in 1930s Los Angeles.
Ask the Dust is the story of Arturo Bandini, a young Italian-American writer in 1930s Los Angeles who falls hard for the elusive, mocking, unstable Camilla Lopez, a Mexican waitress. Struggling to ... (Goodreads)
The Boston Girl
by Anita Diamant
A woman's story of growing up in the early 20th century, navigating the changing roles of women.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Red Tent and Day After Night, comes an unforgettable coming-of-age novel about family ties and values, friendship and feminism told through the eyes ... (Goodreads)
This Is How You Lose Her
by Junot Díaz
A collection of stories about young love, heartache, and the struggle to find one's place in the world.
On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In the heat of a hospital laundry room in New Jersey, a woman does her lover’s washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a ... (Goodreads)
The Kitchen God's Wife
by Amy Tan
A Chinese-American woman's story of family, culture, and personal growth.
The novel opens with the narrative voice of Pearl Louie Brandt, the American-born daughter of a Chinese mother and a Chinese-American father, living in San Jose, California . Pearl's mother, Winnie ... (Wikipedia)
What Is the What
by Dave Eggers
A young African refugee's journey from Sudan to America, struggling to survive and keep his culture alive.
Achak is separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War when the Arab militia, referred to as murahaleen (which is Arabic for the deported), wipes out his Dinka village, Marial Bai . ... (Wikipedia)
The Shoemaker's Wife
by Adriana Trigiani
Two Italian immigrants forge a love story amongst the struggles of making a life in America.
The majestic and haunting beauty of the Italian Alps is the setting of the first meeting of Enza, a practical beauty, and Ciro, a strapping mountain boy, who meet as teenagers, despite growing up in ... (Goodreads)
Behold the Dreamers
by Imbolo Mbue
A Cameroonian family’s struggle to build a better life in America.
The novel opens in fall 2007 with the interview of an immigrant from Cameroon, Jende Jonga, who is hoping to be hired as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a Lehman Brothers executive. Jonga's job allows ... (Wikipedia)
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Collection of stories exploring the struggles of Indian-American immigrants in the US.
A married couple, Shukumar and Shoba, live as strangers in their house until an electrical outage brings them together when all of sudden "they [are] able to talk to each other again" in the four ... (Wikipedia)
The Best We Could Do
by Thi Bui
A family's journey of remembrance, reflecting on the immigrant experience.
National bestseller 2017 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Finalist, ABA Indies Introduce Winter / Spring 2017 Selection, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Spring 2017 Selection, ALA 2018 ... (Barnes & Noble)
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
by Katherine Boo
Explores the lives of the people living in Mumbai's slums and the harsh realities they face.
From Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo, a landmark work of narrative nonfiction that tells the dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the ... (Goodreads)
Here I Am
by Jonathan Safran Foer
A multi-generational Jewish family struggles to make sense of the chaos of the 21st century.
Christian Lorentzen has described the plot as a blend of several different events, including "[a] divorce, a suicide, a bar mitzvah, an earthquake, an all-out Middle Eastern war, and the putting to ... (Wikipedia)
The Island
by Victoria Hislop
A family's secrets unfold as they grapple with the consequences of the Greek Civil War.
On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before ... (Goodreads)
Drums of Autumn
by Diana Gabaldon
A romantic family saga set in 18th century America, of the struggles of an immigrant family.
The heroine of the bestselling, Outlander, , Claire, returns in Drums of Autumn , reunited with her husband Jamie Fraser and facing a new life in the American colonies . As the preceding novel, ... (Wikipedia)
The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan
A story of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their daughters, exploring culture, family, identity and relationships.
The Joy Luck Club consists of sixteen interlocking stories about the lives of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their four American-born daughters. , In 1949, the four mothers meet at the First ... (Wikipedia)
A Tale for the Time Being
by Ruth Ozeki
An exploration of the connections between two lives, bridging time, space and cultures.
In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying, but before she ends it all, Nao plans to document the life of her ... (Goodreads)
The Bean Trees
by Barbara Kingsolver
A young woman's journey of self-discovery and resilience as she takes on motherhood and a new life.
Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she ... (Goodreads)
The Savage Detectives
by Roberto Bolaño
A poetic journey of two young poets searching for a mysterious figure through Latin America.
The novel is narrated in first person by several narrators and divided into three parts. The first section , "Mexicans Lost in Mexico", set in late 1975, is told by 17-year-old aspiring poet, Juan ... (Wikipedia)
Island Beneath the Sea
by Isabel Allende
Epic story of a young slave's journey of resilience, emancipation and freedom.
The story opens on the island of Saint-Domingue (current day La Hispaniola ) in the late 18th century. Zarité (known as Tété) is the daughter of an African mother she never knew and one of the white ... (Wikipedia)
Binti
by Nnedi Okorafor
A journey of self-discovery for a young African girl as she confronts xenophobia, racism, and alien cultures.
A young woman named Binti is the first member of the Himba ethnic group on Earth (closely modeled on the Himba people ) , to be accepted into the prestigious intergalactic university Oomza Uni. Upon ... (Wikipedia)
A Bear Called Paddington
by Michael Bond
A young bear from Peru embarks on a journey to London in search of a new home.
An alternate cover edition of this ISBN can be found here . Mr. and Mrs. Brown first met Paddington, a most endearing bear from Darkest Peru on a railway platform in London. A sign hanging around his ... (Goodreads)
The Sun Is Also a Star
by Nicola Yoon
An unlikely romance between two teenagers of different backgrounds, testing the limits of fate.
Natasha lives in New York City with her parents Samuel and Patricia, and her brother Peter, all of whom are illegally in the country. Natasha and her family are set to be deported back to Jamaica. ... (Wikipedia)
The Leavers
by Lisa Ko
A story of the struggles and triumphs of two individuals navigating the complexities of immigration and identity.
Told in four parts, the novel begins as Deming Guo's mother Polly suddenly disappears from the family's New York City apartment without warning. Deming is placed into foster care , ultimately to be ... (Wikipedia)
The Japanese Lover
by Isabel Allende
Unexpected love story between two unlikely people, spanning generations and continents.
From New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende, “a magical and sweeping” ( Publishers Weekly , starred review) love story and multigenerational epic that stretches from San Francisco in the ... (Barnes & Noble)
Sarum: The Novel of England
by Edward Rutherfurd
Epic saga tracing the history of an English landscape from prehistoric times to the present day.
Sarum: The Novel of England - a novel that traces the entire turbulent course of English history. This rich tapestry weaves a compelling saga of five families—the Wilsons, the Masons, the family of ... (Goodreads)
All-of-a-Kind Family
by Sydney Taylor
Five sisters navigate life in early 1900s New York, learning lessons in love and family.
Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertrude are five sisters growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1912. The book follows them through a year of their childhood, as they deal with mundane ... (Wikipedia)
The Arrival
by Shaun Tan
A thought-provoking story of a man's journey to an unknown land in search of a new home.
In a heartbreaking parting, a man gives his wife and daughter a last kiss and boards a steamship to cross the ocean. He's embarking on the most painful yet important journey of his life—he's leaving ... (Goodreads)
Texas, Volume I
by James A. Michener
Epic saga of the Lone Star state, weaving together the histories of its numerous settlers.
Spanning four and a half centuries, James A. Michener’s monumental saga chronicles the epic history of Texas, from its Spanish roots in the age of the conquistadors to its current reputation as one ... (Goodreads)
Drown
by Junot Díaz
A collection of interconnected stories of a young Dominican-American struggling to find his place in the world.
With ten stories that move from the barrios of the Dominican Republic to the struggling urban communities of New Jersey, Junot Diaz makes his remarkable debut. Diaz's work is unflinching and strong, ... (Goodreads)
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots
by Deborah Feldman
A woman's journey of liberation, leaving behind the oppressive confines of her Hasidic community.
The instant New York Times bestselling memoir of a young Jewish woman’s escape from a religious sect, in the tradition of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel and Carolyn Jessop’s Escape , featuring a new ... (Goodreads)
When Dimple Met Rishi
by Sandhya Menon
An Indian-American teenage girl's unexpected journey to find love, independence, and her true self.
Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family—and from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” ... (Goodreads)
House of Sand and Fog
by Andre Dubus III
A struggle between a displaced family and an ambitious sheriff, wrestling with questions of truth and justice.
The novel begins by introducing Massoud Behrani, a former Iranian air force colonel who fled from Iran after the Iranian Revolution . Because his background is military rather than professional, he ... (Wikipedia)
Hawaii
by James A. Michener
Epic saga of the history, culture and people of the Hawaiian Islands.
The novel tells the history of Hawaiian Islands from the creation of the isles to the time they became an American state, through the viewpoints of selected characters who represent their ethnic and ... (Wikipedia)
Trail of Broken Wings
by Sejal Badani
Three generations of Indian-American women confront the secrets of their past and strive for a better future.
When her father falls into a coma, Indian American photographer Sonya reluctantly returns to the family she’d fled years before. Since she left home, Sonya has lived on the run, free of any ties, ... (Barnes & Noble)
O Pioneers!
by Willa Cather
A tale of a family's struggles and triumphs, as they pioneer a new life in a changing landscape.
The book is divided into five parts, each of which has numerous chapters. On a windy January day in Hanover, Nebraska, Alexandra Bergson is with her five-year-old brother Emil, whose little kitten ... (Wikipedia)
Night Sky with Exit Wounds
by Ocean Vuong
An exploration of identity and displacement, told through powerful and poetic language.
Ocean Vuong's first full-length collection aims straight for the perennial "big"—and very human—subjects of romance, family, memory, grief, war, and melancholia. None of these he allows to overwhelm ... (Goodreads)
The Last Runaway
by Tracy Chevalier
A young Quaker woman's struggle to find her place in a new country and a changing world.
New York Times, bestselling author of, Girl With a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in, The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground ... (Goodreads)
New York
by Edward Rutherfurd
An epic saga spanning centuries of the history and people of New York City.
Edward Rutherfurd celebrates America’s greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga, weaving together tales of families rich and poor, native-born and immigrant—a cast of fictional and true characters ... (Goodreads)
Home Fire
by Kamila Shamsie
A family torn apart by tragedy, facing the choices of loyalty, love and politics.
Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she’s accepted an invitation from a mentor in America that allows her to resume a dream long ... (Goodreads)
Girl in Translation
by Jean Kwok
A young immigrant girl's struggles to keep up academically and financially in the US.
Introducing a fresh, exciting Chinese-American voice, an inspiring debut about an immigrant girl forced to choose between two worlds and two futures. When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from ... (Goodreads)
Desert Flower
by Waris Dirie
A harrowing autobiographical account of a young Somali girl's journey from oppression to freedom.
Waris Dirie ran away from her oppressive life in the African desert when she was barely in her teens, illiterate and impoverished, with nothing to her name but a tattered shawl. She traveled alone ... (Goodreads)
The Two-Family House
by Lynda Cohen Loigman
Two siblings, both Holocaust survivors, reunite and grapple with the family secrets that have kept them apart.
"An emotional but dreamy novel that...will transport you far, far away from your next dreary Monday morning. You may do a lot of sobbing, but don't worry, you'll be smiling by the end." —Bustle, "12 ... (Barnes & Noble)
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