#1 Chick Red 4---dmillett24

In the Memoir A Cooked Seed by Anchee Min, Anchee immigrated to the United States from communist China in the early 80s. Her upbringing was dystopian. Both she and her parents suffered from several ailments that they had to push through. Her mother had tuberculosis and her father had stomach cancer for example. She worked in Labor camps and helped to make propaganda films which are where she became friends with Joan Chen who acted in the movies. Joan Chen immigrated to the U.S. and eventually helped Anchee to get accepted to the Chicago Institute of Art which helped her get a visa. When she Arrives in the U.S. she knew almost no English and has extreme difficulty communicating with others. All the housing is expensive and she feels isolated with no one who understands her way of life. A comfort to her is other Chinese immigrants of similar backgrounds. They have the same struggles as her and talking with them helps her feel less alone, “The Chinese students dreamed of earning a green card and a permanent residency in the USA that came with it. The competition was about seven hundred applications for one position.” (Min, 67). Eventually, she gets a cheap apartment with other Chinese immigrants which helps her get jobs at Chinese restaurants and such. Without connections to the U.S. and help from the other immigrants not only would she lack safe affordable housing, connections to jobs, and information about the immigration process in America, she probably never would have made it to America in the first place.

In the novel, Indivisible by Daniel Aleman it follows a boy named Mateo. He is not an immigrant himself and hasn't had to go through that process but his parents were from Mexico and they came to america to give a better lives for their kids. After arriving they opened a store to not only pay for the bills but set up Mateo and his sister Sophies education. Mateo makes sure to get good grades and to set himself up for success so his parents efforts are not in vein. His social life around school is very small and consists of two people, Adam who shares a interest in acting with him as well, then Kimmie who is an immigrant from Korea. Kimmie helps Mateo feel not alone in the crowd of everyone who seems the same (white americans) "theirs something about the fact that she's half koreanand I'm Mexican that makes us see the world similarily--Maybe both of us have always felt like outsiders in our own way." (Aleman 15) By having Kimmie as a friend it helps Mateo feel less alone. They both can share similar experiences and perspective of things non immigrant friends couldnt. They share the same struggles and experiences in a sense, therefore helping them both feel more normal in this world where they are percieves as "unnormal" by most.

The book I am reading is Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. The main character of this book is Kim Chang who moved to New York with her mom from Hong Kong. They moved to America searching for a better life, but instead are greeted with the opposite. Ma, Kim's mom, was helped by her sister when moving to America. Before Ma and Kim moved to America, Ma had to receive medical treatment for her Tuberculosis. Once Ma was approved to go to America, the sister, Aunt Paula, found them a house and jobs. Aunt Paula also lied about where Kim lived so she could go to a better school. Even though Ma's sister doesn't treat them well, without her I don't think they could have made it to America. “‘Never forget, we owe Aunt Paula and Uncle Bob a great debt. Because they got us out of Hong Kong and brought us here to America, the Golden Mountain’” (Kwok 10). She paid for Ma's treatment, their apartment, and their tickets over to America. Ma still has to pay her back, but without this help, she would not have been able to afford the trip over. She also may not have been able to receive treatment without this money. I don’t think immigrants must have connections to people in America, but it definitely will help them immensely if they can get help from them. It can help them find homes, jobs, and schools, and if they need help with finances they may be able to get it. 

"Out of Nowhere" by Maria Padian is a novel about a high school soccer team in Maine that faces issues of racism and cultural differences when a group of Somali refugees joins the team. In the book's first third, the reader is introduced to the main characters, including Tom, a white player who struggles to accept the new players, and Saeed, a talented Somali player with a reserved personality. As the team works to overcome their differences and work together on the field, tensions begin to rise off the field, leading to a confrontation between Tom and Saeed, when Tom begins to feel threatened by Saeed due to the language barrier, which threatens to tear the team apart. However, getting past this, Tom learns that Saeed is impressively good at soccer and will be a vital asset to the team. He even helps Saeed with the paperwork needed to join the team, learning more about Saeed's family and home life in the process. As the soccer season progresses, the team starts winning, and Saeed becomes a valuable player. The group of friends also navigates typical teenage issues, such as romance and academic stress. Meanwhile, the town faces tensions and protests when a local businessman proposes to build a mosque, and some residents expressed anti-Muslim sentiments. Saeed and his family become targets of harassment, which ultimately leads to an act of violence.  "Just around the time a bunch of Muslims took out the Twin Towers. A bunch of Somali Muslims started seriously secondary-migrating here. There had been a few of them in town for years but this was different. Every day in school you saw more of them in the guidance office, these black kids who barely spoke English.” (Padian 15) Saeed was very lucky to be with his family, having his sister who is rather fluent in English and can help assimilate him to the customs and traditions that come with the new world he's moved to. Meeting and befriending Tom was a connection Saeed may not have known he needed but had he not met Tom he probably would not have gotten the support he needed Tom was helpful to sway other people's opinions on Somalis because he got to know Saeed which is beneficial to Saeed and his family and other immigrants like him.