Mexican Immigration

Children's Literature

Over the past few years the Hispanic population of the United States has increased to the point where it makes up the largest minority group within the nation. Amongst this proud group of Americans, Mexican immigrants and their families make up more than 50% of the Hispanic people living in America. In many cases the journey to the USA for Mexican immigrants is one fraught with difficulty and even danger. In Mexican Immigration Gelletley outlines the reasons why so many Mexican people have traveled to America as well as the many social influences this migration has created. Mexican Immigration starts out by tracing the statistical background related to the modern influx of primarily poor people moving north from Mexico. The author then taps into areas such as the nature of illegal immigration, influences Mexican-American exert upon political frameworks, problems faced by immigrants, and the cultural jolt that coming to a new land can create. In addition, the author also provides some insights into the smaller subset of Mexican immigrants who journey further north to Canada. Taken as a whole this textbook about Mexican immigration provides youngsters with a good introduction to the motives, history, and nature of Mexican immigrants who leave their world behind to search out a better life. This illustrated book will be of value in classrooms studying immigration or multicultural issues as well as in libraries looking for books dealing with these and related themes. 2004, Mason Crest Publishers, Ages 12 up.
—Greg M. Romaneck

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-These titles focus on immigration to the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, Canada, since the 1960s. They cover reasons for emigrating, U.S. and Canadian immigration policy (identical in each book), the groups' settling in and then working to keep their culture alive, problems (illegal border crossings, human smuggling), and the outlook for future immigration. Boxes and appendixes provide expanded coverage on individuals, history, and current policies. The clearly written texts are broken up by full-color or archival black-and-white photographs, as well as by several bar graphs. Unfortunately, some details are incorrect or sloppy. The title of one graph in Mexican Immigration is missing a word, thus making no sense; another has omitted the bar for 1960s immigration and gives a figure for the 1970s at variance with one elsewhere in the text. Independence Day commemorates an 1810, not 1821, date. Indian Immigration shows astronaut Kalpana Chawla as still alive, with no mention of her death February 1, 2003, in the Columbia space shuttle disaster. Cultural details are occasionally incorrect: ahimsa is misspelled as ashimsa; chai is the Hindi word for tea and not specific to heavily spiced tea; a sari, always made out of six or nine yards of fabric, is not worn with a dupatta. These errors are unfortunate, as these books would otherwise be adequate for reports.-Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.