Vietnamese Americans

School Library Journal

Gr 5 -9 -- Two titles that briefly describe the history and present circumstances of ethnic groups in the United States and Canada. Both books follow the same outline and include black-and-white photographs, a time line, a well-drawn map, and book as well as media bibliographies. Vietnamese Americans contains more information in a more readable style than its counterpart. Auerbach points out that the Vietnamese have only been in America for a short while and that many of these immigrants were refugees forced to leave their homeland fearing for their lives. She describes their values and struggles for self-sufficiency as they live a half-and-half life--one foot in Vietnam, one in America. As for Italian-American history, an encyclopedia article can easily substitute for the coverage in Witoski's small volume. J. Philip di Franco's The Italian Americans (Chelsea, 1988) gives more evenhanded and accurate information. Witkoski includes no discussion of the labor union movement and only the merest mention of Sacco and Vanzetti. The index heading ``women'' contains one reference. Italian-American attitudes toward fascism in the 1930s are omitted. The real struggles and achievements of this ethnic group deserve a less sanitized, more exciting book than this one. --Anna Biagioni Hart, Martha Washington Library, Alexandria, VA