IMMIGRATION LOST AND FOUND
CONTENTS
Introduction
America
The Orphan of Ellis Island
by Elvira Woodruff
The Long Way to a New Land by Joan Sandin
Watch the Stars Come Out by Riki Levison
Angel Child, Dragon Child
by Michele Maria Surat
Aekyung's Dream by Min Paek
Immigrant Kids by Russell
Freedman
American Civil War
Selina and the Bear Paw
Quilt by Barbara Smucker
Canada
They sought a New Land by William Kurelek
additional text by Margaret Engelhart
Josepha – A Prairie Boy’s Story
by Jim Mc Gugan
Ghost Train by Paul Yee
Bibliography
Images
Introduction
This website is constructed
as part of Writing A Life: Biographies and Personal Narrative, a Rutgers university
course on children's literature taught by GraceAnne DeCandido. The aim of
this site is to review a series of books that deal with personal narratives of
people from many different countries immigrating to Canada and the United
States over a large span of time. The site is designed to be read by adults and
children of all ages and lays emphasis on the duality of the process of
immigration. The word 'duality' means double or having two qualities. This site
is about the process of leaving home (emigration) and coming home
(immigration) at the same time.
I was inspired to choose
this topic upon reading two poems by Emanuel di Pasquale from his book
Cartwheel to the Moon: My Sicilian Childhood. I have written them out
below for you, the reader, to ponder over -
| Joy of an Immigrant, a Thanksgiving
Like a bird grown weak in a land
Where it always rains
And where all the trees have died,
I have flown long and long
To find sunlight pouring over branches
And leaves. I have journeyed, oh God,
To find a land where I can build a dry nest,
A land where my song will echo.
|
Letter from Sicily
We haven’t eaten the grape
From the vineyard by the sea.
That creek where we used to wash
The grape is now dry;
The water loses itself
In the fields.
Return, dear friend,
For one more picnic
On a hill,
Under the stars
Where we may dance.
|
Joy of an Immigrant, a
Thanksgiving is full of forward movement
and expectation whereas Letter from Sicily pulls the reader back to a
time of peace and stillness.
I am a recent immigrant
to Canada and upon reading the books below, I recognized and identified
with the common threads of emotion and the sense of movement the books possess. When you uproot
from your birthplace, forever you will travel with a burden of the past unless
you let go of what was before and root yourself in the present. This is a
process of leaving and coming home at the same time.
Before the advent of air
travel it was not so easy to return to the country you left behind. In fact for
many people it was impossible because they could not afford it in their
lifetimes. I have likened this strange and disturbing journey to Lot’s wife as
told in the bible. She looked back on the place she was leaving and was turned
into pillar of salt. I am not especially religious but in the early days of
immigration I felt I could not, or dared not to look back. I felt that the
memories of the recent past were so powerful that I would, like Lot's wife,
simply seize up in the present.
All the books I have chosen
on Immigration deal with loss, recovery and letting go, language barriers in
terms of specific conditions like the change in social status experienced by
immigrants. Many of the books highlight the emotions that accompany these
states. All of these journeys have touched my heart and I share them with you
as a part of the process of my own journey of immigration.
I
have divided the books
into three sections, America, American civil war and Canada and have
chosen a
picture for each book that I think best complements its narrative.
Following the links in the Images section will take the reader to its
source image in its original context. I have
indicated the appropriate age category of each book, and have also
tagged each
book with a word that encapsulates a feeling that I think is
appropriate to the
text.
< back to top
America
The United States of America has been seen, from its
founding in the 18th Century, as a land of freedom and
opportunity, open to people from other countries who did not enjoy
social freedom or economic oportunity. There was a large influx of
immigrants in the 19th
century, most of whom came to live hard lives as settlers and laborers.
While the numbers and the composition of the immigrants changed
over trhe years, the flow continued well into the 20th century. Each of
these immigrants to America, emigrated from some other country, leaving
behind loved places and people, and bringing with them memories and
narratives that have informed a diverse yet thematically connected body
of immigration literature.
< back to top
The Orphan of Ellis Island
by Elvira Woodruff
Dominic Cantori is an
orphan and afraid to tell his class mates. One day on a school trip to the
Museum on Ellis Island everyone is asked about where their grandparents came
from. Dominic does not want to answer so he hides and falls asleep. When he
wakes the museum is closed, so he picks up a display phone and a voice speaks
to him from the past. Dominic goes back in time, meets a Mr Candiano, an early Italian
immigrant, and begin an adventure of immigration. The author gives Dominic
someone to relate to in his dream to make up for his lack of family. As she
explores the ideas of loss and recovery, and the notion of family, the author notes
that when she visited Ellis Island she suddenly understood that immigration was
about families, “this island was about families and how they draw strength from
one another.”
1. Ellis Island: Corridor Nine Island Three
Ages 9-11
Feeling: strength
< back to top
The Long Way to a New Land by Joan Sandin
This book is an ‘I Can Read History Book’, it is
beautifully illustrated by the author and starts with a letter from America. “Come
to America,” says the letter written by Uncle Axel to his brother Jonas –
‘come’ to a new land where everyone eats wheat bread. In 1896 in Sweden there
was a drought and no food was stored for the winter. The book explains that
mother’s scraped bark from pine trees to bake bread, children were begging in
the streets. The family sells up and journeys to America. On the boat they were
locked in to the hold and no one is allowed on deck. People got feverish and
died. The author’s notes at the back of the book give us more insight into what
happened in Sweden during this period. 50,000 Swedes immigrated to America
during 1868 to 1869. Swedes wanted a better life and left everything behind to
get away and to head for the ‘land of opportunity’, where the promise was that
everyone eats wheat bread.
2. Departure of Cunard Ship
Ages 4-6
Feeling: Hope
< back to top
Watch the Stars Come Out by Riki Levison
This book speaks of longing for your parents and
reuniting families. A little boy and girl journey to America to meet up with
their parents. The narrator is a grandma and she is telling her own
mother’s story to her granddaughter. She tells how her mama had the same red
hair as the child and how she liked to go to bed early to watch the stars come
out. Grandma’s Mama would come to her room and tell her a special story. She
tells how she traveled on a big boat to be reunited with her family. Their Aunt
put them on the boat. They were locked in the lower decks and the girl is sad
because she cannot see the stars. When the Statue of Liberty came into view as
they approached New York, all the people on the boat waved at it. Once ashore,
they meet up with their family and went home. That night the little got to girl
watch the stars come out again. The author uses the motif of the sky to integrate
the girl’s old life with her new one - under the common canopy of the stars.
3. A Starry Sky
Ages 6 - 8
Feeling: Warm
< back to top
Angel Child, Dragon Child by Michele Maria Surat
This is a compelling story that tells us of a
Vietnamese family that came to America and could not bring their mother with
them because it was too expensive. Although the mother was far away, her memory taught the
little girl whose name is ‘Ut’ (oot) to be an Angel Child, and supported her
through of going to her new school. Everyone teased the her and her sister.
This story unfolds beautifully as Ut learns more about America the reader
learns more about Vietnam and Vietnamese culture through the circumstances of
her mother. We learn of the Angelic fairy and the demon king, we learn simply
facts like the way people use names differently. For example, Nguyen is the
family name but Ut is a loving name for the youngest child. The author wants to
promote better understanding and empathy between the Vietnamese immigrants and
their American Peers through the motif of the loss of the mother.
4. Vietnamese Girl in Traditional Dress
Ages 8 - 9
Feeling: Loss
< back to top
Aekyung's Dream by Min Paek
This is a very bright book.
The author who is also the illustrator has made special use of color and line
drawings. The drawings are typical of the 1970’s, the period when this book is
set. The style is similar to the Beatles album and movie Yellow Submarine. It
is a joy to read and look at. The book is written in both Korean and English
and tells us of a girl who cannot speak English. No one plays with her and she
feel different yet invisible because everyone thinks she is Chinese. Her
struggle for identity comes into focus when she cannot decide if the birds outside
her window sing in English or Korean. At last an Aunt visits and tells her how
Korea has changed; Aekyung can remember the Korean alphabet and her ancient Korean
King, King Sejong. She dreams of the King who tells her she must be strong. So
eventually Aeyung learns English and then chuckles to herself when she cannot
decide if the birds sing in English or Korean. The author of this book draws on
her own memories of immigration and those of newcomers.
5. King Sejong
Ages 7-9
Feeling: Awkwardness
< back to top
Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman
This reference book is a
real delight, it is a full of photographs of immigrant kids. Photographers Lewis
Hine and Jacob Riis took many pictures with the new hand held or ‘detective camera’
that allowed photographers to take photos quickly without being observed. Some
of Lewis Hine’s photos helped the reform movement against child labor in the United
States. There are also accounts of what it was like to be living in the
tenement blocks of New York. The photos of the immigrant steamships really
bring home the idea of how crowded they were. At school those who did not speak
English sat with the little ones until they learnt – ‘a strapping 12 year old
immigrant boy would be squeezed into a second grade classroom.’ These photos
and accounts of this period of intense immigration are spectacular.
6. Girl in Laundry/ Bath
Ages – all (great reference resource)
Feeling: Empathy
< back to top
American Civil War
I now take a step back and
look at how Americans coped with despair and destruction of the darkest period
in their history. A conflict that pitted brother against brother, took no prisoners
and made everyone an enemy. This is a time when the land of immigration become
a site of emigration as many people sought refuge in Canada. This movement within
North America gives a us sense that immigration is a continuous movement of the
earth’s displaced peoples. People are always seeking a better life and are willing
or forced to leave their homes in search of safety and prosperity.
< back to top
Selina and the Bear Paw
Quilt by Barbara Smucker
During the American Civil War, one group stayed away from the fighting - they
were the Mennonites. The Mennonites supported neither North nor South in the
war and became persecuted by both. They had fled similar situations in Europe
and had hoped that America would bring them peace. When this vision failed to
materialize, the Mennonites decided ‘to flee again, and went up north to what
was then upper Canada and is now Ontario. This story is about a Mennonite girl
and her close relationship with her grandmother. Her grandmother is making a ‘bear
paw quilt.’ All the materials carry memories, wedding dresses, baby clothes and
favorite dresses. Selina’s father brings news of the war and knows they must
leave Virginia quickly Grandmother isn’t going to Upper Canada with them she is
too old and Selina is so sad. When the family leaves for Canada on a locomotive
the quilt goes with them to be finished in their new home. Throughout their
separation the family is able to retrieve memories from the quilt. Selina’s
cousins see their old dresses and Selina sees her grandmothers wedding dress.
‘Selina smiled at the memory of her grandmother, knowing she would always be
with her, and their was peace in her heart.’ This book has beautifully
illustrated borders that echo many of the old quilting methods. The author is a
Mennonite and the story of the quilt weaves together a strong sense of a people.
7. Bear Paw Design
Ages 6-10
Feeling: Togetherness
< back to top
Canada
Canada sits on the top of America
and is not full up with people yet. In the 1800’s immigration to Canada and
America was phenomenal. 50 million people came in all. 37 million went to
America and 13 million went to Canada. From 1869 to 1930 between 80,000
and 100,000 British orphans were transported to Canada as part of a strategy to
get rid of the home countries poor, and to provide cheap labor for farmers in Canada.
< back to top
They Sought a New Land by William Kurelek additional text by Margaret Engelhart
William Kurelek is an
historical painter who has recorded in his paintings and in own words the
‘crises, the calamities, the hunger, thirst, sweat, toil of the people settling
in to an untamed land.’ The chapter titles are written in the same style as the
text and lend to the idea of progression through the land, of a force to ‘tame’
the land. People who were promised farming land and opportunity ended up toiling
in difficult circumstances and living in sod huts in a wild land they did not
understand and had not expected. In America the immigrants were in conflict
with the Native Indians, but in Canada the trappers and voyagers married native
women and the feeling was slightly more integrated. This is a very through
account of the pioneers of the prairie which was and still is remarkably empty and
has as yet only been partially tamed.
8. Sod Hut
Ages 10-12 (great reference resource)
Feeling: Hardship
< back to top
Josepha – A Prairie Boy’s Story
by Jim Mc Gugan
This is a poignant book
about a newcomer to the Canadian landscape. Josepha couldn’t speak English and
had to sit with the young ones, but he appeared to understand things at a
deeper level and protected the little ones and his own sister from being
teased. Josepha helped people. He was strong and could withstand the icy cold
temperatures. He had no shoes but looked after other peoples. He carved toys
with this penknife. The school teacher wanted him to stay and learn. But
Josepha could not, his Pa had said ‘Old country or no, shopkeepers didn’t make
farmers. Farmers make Farmers.’ Josepha knew he could not go to school as
he was strong and could go threshing to earn ‘a dollar a day.’ That was the way
it was for the older ones. Josepha’s tale shows us about the need to struggle
to survive on the Canadian Prairie.Above education one must learn to work the
land.
9. The Canadian Prairie
Ages 8-10
Feeling: Isolation
< back to top
Ghost Train by Paul Yee
This is an astounding tale, weaving fact in with
fiction. Choon-yi was born with one arm and into a poor family in China. With that
one arm she could draw and paint well. She sketched animals and on markets days
drew peoples faces for a fee. Choon-yi’s father decided to go to North America
to help build a railway through the mountains. One day a letter came asking
Choon-yi to come to North America, but by the she arrived her father had died.
Her father appears in a dream with blood stained hands asks her to paint the ‘fire
car’, so Choon-yi traveled on the trains and painted the agony of the train
workers. as well as the gleaming train. The picture Choon-yi painted seems to
have magical properties as she sees all the spirits of the railway enter into
it. Her father says, ‘many men died building this railway their bones are gone
but the ‘time has come to transport their souls back home.’ Choon-yi rolls up
the painting and takes it back to China – ‘Let our ashes sail on the four
winds. That way our souls will finally find their way home.’ A beautiful way to
depict and show the emotional upheaval that the rail workers went through and
the torment they suffered in the building of, what must be, the trans Canada
railway line.
10. Canadian Pacific Railway Workers
Ages 7-11
Feeling: Release
< back to top
Bibliography
Freedman,
R. Immigrant Kids. New York:
Dutton, c1980
Kurelek, W. They Sought a New World. Tundra Books:
Montreal. 1985
Levison, R. Watch the stars come out /
illustrated by Diane Goode. New York: Dutton, c1985
McGugan,
J. Josepha: a prairie boy’s story / illustrated by Murray
Kimber. Alberta: Red Deer College Press,1994
Paek, Min. Aekyung's Dream. San Francisco:
Children's Press, 1988
di Pasquale, E. Cartwheel to the Moon: My Sicilian Childhood. Chicago: Cricket Books, 2003
Sandin, J. The Long Way Home. New York: Harper & Row.
1981
Smucker, B. Selina and the bear
paw quilt / illustrated by Janet Wilson. Ontatio: Stoddart, 1996
Surat
M. & Vo, Dinh Mai. Angel Child, Dragon
Child. New York: Scholastic, c1983
Woodruff, E. The Orphan of Ellis Island. New
York: Scholastic Press, 1997
Yee, P. Ghost train /;
pictures by Harvey Chan. Vancouver: Douglas &
McIntyre. 2004. 1996
< back to top
Images
1. Ellis Island: Corridor Nine Island Three - www.monroegallery.com/.../wilkes_ellisisland.cfm
2. Departure of Cunard Ship - www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?show=ConNar
3. A Starry Sky - http://www.calvin.edu/academic/phys/observatory/images/Astr110.Fall2005/
4. Vietnamese Girl in Traditional Dress - http://www.mike37.org/img67_02.htm
5. King Sejong - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sejong.jpg
6. Girl in Laundry/ Bath - http://www.eastman.org/ar/strip11/htmlsrc/m198501680003_ful.html#topofimage
7. Bear Paw Design - http://www.earlywomenmasters.net/quilts/b/bears/index.html
8. Sod Huts - http://www.collectionscanada.ca/settlement/kids/021013-2041.6-e.html
9. The Canadian Prairie - www.idrc.ca/en/ev-92240-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
10. Canadian Pacific Railway Workers - http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2005/05/
< back to top
