Cubans

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-- Two attractively formatted books with excellent potential disappoint due to their lack of depth. Both begin with detailed histories of the areas from which the immigrants in question come. Indeed, two-thirds of Cubans is devoted to history. The historical sections are accurate and well illustrated with period photos and accurate, detailed maps. It is the sections on the immigrants' lives in the United States that fall short. For example, mention is made of the fact that many professionals from Poland, immigrating after World War II, had to take menial jobs. ``They felt hurt and humiliated. Nevertheless, within a few years, most had found better jobs . . . '' This does not begin to touch on issues of displacement, culture shock, and adjustment. Brent Ashabranner's The New Americans (Putnam, 1983), although targeted at older readers, does capture the hardships of immigration--the shock of change, the yearning for home--with affecting poignancy. A cursory treatment of the emotional impact of such radical changes results in books that do little more than make readers aware of the fact that immigrants left their countries for political reasons, live in certain places in the U. S., observe certain ethnic customs, and are assimilating. --Ann Welton, University Child Development School, Seattle