3. Group A--echadburn26

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue follows a Cameroonian immigrant family, the Jongas, and a wealthy American family, the Edwards. They need to navigate the so-called ¨American dream¨ in the 2008 financial crisis. Jende Jonga, his wife Neni, and their son Liomi, are Cameroonian immigrants struggling to make a life in New York City, facing challenges with the American immigration system. The collapse of Lehman Brothers (The Edwards family business) and the ensuing financial crisis throws both families into turmoil, forcing them to confront the fragility of their lives and the complexities of the American Dream.

¨ Oh I am sorry sir. I have EAD. EAD sir… that is what i have right now¨ (Pg 6).He has papers as in he is a documented immigrant, but he does not have a green card. I think the hardest part of his story is acclimating to the big city around him and the people who think poorly of him because of his race.

Girl In Translation By Jean Kwok is about a young Chinese girl immigrating to the U.S from Hong Kong, trying to accustom to the new morals and ways of life. Kimberly and her mother live in a very run down, bad apartment in the projects of New York, a place that was basically abandoned. Kimberly has to attend public school, where she has some challenges in the beginning, but eventually makes a good friend named Annette. Annette shows her the ways of life in the U.S and eventually Kimberly gets the hang of school there, and gets very high math tests scores, and was able to be a candidate to go to a private school. On top of school, Kimberly has to go to the factory where her mother was employed after school to work very long hours, sometimes being there all night with her mother. After excelling in her new private school, and working very hard to get good grades because she thought it was the only way to get herself and her mother out of poverty, she secures herself a scholarship to Yale and accepts it. Before accepting this scholarship from Yale, she also starts a relationship with her friend from the factory named Matt, and gets pregnant, and has the baby. After accepting this offer from Yale, she decides to focus on herself and her education instead of further pursuing her relations with Matt, raising her child with her mother, and becoming a doctor.

In Girl in Translation, Kimberly and her mother got very lucky some would say during their immigration process, they were able to immigrate to the US because of Kimberly's Aunt Paula, and her husband, Uncle Bob. Aunt Paula and Uncle Bob both were able to sponsor their Immigration because they had previously moved to the US, and paid for Kimberly's mothers medical treatments for tuberculosis. I would say the most difficult part of the Immigration process for them both was the change in lifestyle for them. They had went from living in a nice house, to a rundown apartment in the projects. The morals and lifestyle around them changed majorly, and they didn't quite understand some of the ways people lived. This caused trouble with communicating with others in the area. One quote that shows how they overcame this struggle and figured out a way to become successful even with barriers is "I had an obligation to my ma and to myself. I couldn't have changed who I was. I wish I could have." ( Kwok 294 ). 

Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian follows Tom Bouchard, a high school soccer star in a small Maine town where many Somali refugees have recently arrived. At first, Tom doesn’t think much about them, but when he meets Saeed, a talented Somali soccer player, he starts to see things differently. Tom also gets to know Abdi, Saeed’s cousin, who is quieter and more focused on school and family. Through his friendships with Saeed and Abdi, Tom begins to understand the struggles the Somali refugees face, including racism, poverty, and cultural differences.As tensions rise in the town, conflicts between longtime residents and Somali newcomers become more apparent. Tom faces backlash from some of his friends and community members for supporting the Somali players. He also becomes involved with Myla, a girl who volunteers at a refugee center, further opening his eyes to the challenges immigrants face. In a devastating turn of events the Seed family leaves the city. After the intense and tragic events that occur throughout the book, the family makes the decision to move away from their troubled environment.

The refugees from Somali came here for safety leaving there family and home to be safe. They struggled with many things such as missing there home and religion. They also deal with many problems when they arrive here such as racism towards them, having a hard time with English and understanding the new way of life here. "Somali people don't call the cops,” (Padian 250), this quote is someone saying Somalis don't call the cops because they don't know what they are. 

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villastante follows Marisol and her younger sister Gabi trying to seek asylum in the United States from El salvador. Both the girls had to flee their country due to gang violence and the dangerous situation they had been in, after Marisol and Gabi’s brother were murder they flee to the US and their mother into hiding.During this Marisol is conducted into an experiment to stay in the united states and have a safe haven for both her and her sister. 

Marisol is a young immigrant from El Salvador and a process that she goes through is going through an experiment just to keep her and her sister in the United States. The hardest part of this is that the experiment is taking pain from veterans and people with immense trauma while she's still dealing with her own trauma. “It isn't that I don't trust Gabi-I trust her with my life. But Pablos words dig in like a worm..do you think I would let you infect out little sister with your disease?”(Villiasate 271).