3. Group D--nsaindon26

In my book Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. The main characters, Jende Jonga and his wife Neni, move to America from Cameroon. To have a better life for themselves and their six-year-old son. Jende lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers, a big corporation. Through this job, we learn more about the Edwards family and their struggles with Mrs. Edwards' drug use, their son Vince wanting to leave for India instead of finishing his studies at a law school, and Mr. Clark being unfaithful. Then the economy crashes, putting even more strain on the family, with Mr. Clark going to see the Mistress more often, which causes Mrs. Edwards to get suspicious, and she has Jende write down where Mr.Clark is going. Instead, Jende does what Mr. Clark says and doesn't include him in driving Mr. Clark to see the escort. Until an article is released by the escort detailing Mr. Clark's cheating scandal, and Jende is fired for lying to Mrs. Edwards. Jende has to work two jobs washing dishes to support his pregnant wife and son. This stress starts to weigh on the family until Neni, thinking she doesn't have any options left, blackmails Mrs. Edwards with her drug problem for money so they can stay in America. But they still return to Cameroon because of the stress of America and Jende having to work two jobs, causing him back problems. In my book, Jendes and his wife's hard work and effort they put into their careers are appreciated🕳 by the Edwards family. Before Jende returns to Cameroon. He and Mr Clark get together to say their goodbyes and Mr Clark says he appreciates how much he has done for his family and thanks him. "And if I never said it I, hope you know how much I appreciated your hard work and loyalty"(Mbue 371). This quote shows that Jendes's hard work was appreciated and recognized by Mr Clark and the Edwards family, with earlier in the book Vince, Mr Clark's son, calling Neni to let her know how he was doing and how he recognized their hard work with Mighty his little brother and Mr Clark's second son.

In my book Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian takes the perspective of Tom Bouchard, he is a high school senior who lives in Lewiston Maine with his family. His life is changed when his best friend Yusuf, who is a Somali-American boy, becomes involved in a controversy with a terrorist attack. As Tom experiences his own feelings of confusion and loyalty, he learns about the challenges that refugees face by being immigrants and the struggles of finding a place in a community that may not fully accept them. The novel explores the intersections of race, religion, and prejudice in the eyes of a boy in the modern world who is dealing with issues of terrorism and integration. One time when Yusuf is talking to Tom is talking about how Refugees are being seen in the community. Yusuf says “‘I feel like we’re invisible, Tom. Like no one even sees us, except when something goes wrong’” (Padian Chapter 14). This quote shows how even through Yusuf's efforts to fit in he still feels invisible. Even though he is trying to be like others they only see him and other refugees when something bad happens like the terrorist attack.

In my book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz it follows the life of a overweight, nerdy kid who moved to New Jersey from the Dominican. throughout the book Oscar is seen as a outsider, and goes through many stuggles, including his love life, his family history, and making friends. Oscars efforts whether its finding love or making friends, its often met with failure. As Oscar moves on to college, he has many thoughts of ending his own life because he feels lonely and feels like he's been completely rejected in his social life and love life. His friend Yunior is really the only person who recognized his efforts, "Oscar tried. he really tried. But he was too much of a romantic, too much of a fool. he thought he could overcome everything, his geekiness, his families curse, the fact that he was a Dominican in America." (Diaz 318) this quote shows that his efforts were recognized by other people. And it even tells us some of the efforts he made.

In my book Out of Nowhere by Maria Padion Tom Boucher meets Somali kids on his soccer team that have struggled adapting to the U.S and face many discrimination and challenges. Most of the Somalians immigrated to Maine during the same time as 9/11 which had them treated unfairly. Tom starts to realise how unfairly they are being treated when he starts doing social work in a town with mostly immigrants. A quote showing they try to adapt and impress the people they know is when one of Tom's classmates said “Sometimes he surprised me and came up with a string of English that made you think he could speak the language. Other times he faded and I couldn’t tell if he was just not getting the words or avoiding a topic.” (Padian 96). Saeed would try to speak in English as much as he could to impress the American kids and some people started to realise his efforts even if they weren't always successful.