Immigration from Central America

Children's Literature

Over the years over 1.1 million immigrants from Central America have made the difficult journey to El Norte in order to settle in Canada or the United States. Of this group approximately ten out of eleven Central American immigrants have settled in North America where they have sought to carve out a new life of opportunity. Often fleeing oppression and economic dysfunction, Central American immigrants bring with them both similarities and differences. While Spanish is the language of these immigrants, there is a great difference between people from rural Costa Rica and those from an urban area of El Salvador. Likewise, the reasons for migration vary across the map of Central America. Regardless of these differences, many Central American immigrants come to the United States and Canada in pursuit of the dream of bettering their lives. Success has been varied for these hearty migrants and their story is ably told in this illustrated entry in the Mason Crest Publishers "Changing Face of North America" series. As in other titles in this well crafted set, Romel Hernandez's book outlines a brief history of the region, reasons for migration, difficulties faced by Central American immigrants, and future trends. In each section of this interesting work, Hernandez does a laudable job of providing younger readers with productive information and human interest. In the end, Immigration from Central America is a valuable tool for classroom or reference use as well as being a well-told tale. 2004, Mason Crest Publishers, Ages 10 up.
—Greg M. Romaneck