Customer Reviews

First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants

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First Crossing, a collection of ten first-person narratives, tells the stories of teen-age immigrants to the United States. While the stories in this collection cover diverse immigration experiences, each story deals with the challenges that are unique to adolescents arriving in a new country. The stories, though fiction, deal with the difficult realities many immigrant teenagers face, realities such as self-doubt, social and linguistic isolation, racism, and family conflict. The reading level and subject matter of this book make it suitable for middle school and high school students. The collection lends itself well to opportunities for discussion and writing extensions.

For a summer reading assignment in my high school, I had chosen to read First Crossings: Stories of Teen Immigrants by David Gallo. Although initially, I had expected true stories of immigrants in a longer format, the stories in First Crossings are fictional and short.
I enjoy reading multicultural fiction, and I throughly enjoyed reading some stories in the book, although after reading three to four stories, the stories began to become transparent and rather canned.
I guess this is to be expected with a collection of stories all about the same subject, but I expected more from such prolific writers of the topic such as Lesley Namioka (whose books I have read before).
Also missing from First Crossings is something that I think would be very relevant to current events in the United States, a story about illegal Mexican or Central American immigrants living in America, rather then just the immigration process.. Reading through the book, I found that it covered all manners and variety of immigration to America, with the glaring omission of this topic.
To be more complete, I would recommend such a story be included. Otherwise, I have enjoyed reading from this book.
A wide variety of topics related to immigration are presented in a sometimes humorous format, including the immigrant handling of cultural differences and misunderstandings, the customs and cuisine of a new country, and, especially valuable, the search for an identity as an immigrant in a new country, coming from a country with a distinct culture to another country with another distinct culture.
The characters in the "identity-related"stories often struggle to find a balance between their birth and adopted cultures, and satisfyingly, appear to make adjustments and blend the two in unique ways.
Although not what I expected, I enjoyed reading First Crossings.

First Crossing
Have you ever felt out of place? Have you ever tired to fit in, tried to figure out how the world works? The book "First Crossing" edited by Donald R. Gallo, are stories about teen immigrants. It is a book filled with ten short stories of kids trying to fit in. One of my favorite stories is " First Crossing" by Pam Mun Ryan.
"First Crossing" shows that it is not easy to cross the border to America. A boy named Marco and Papa try to cross the border to America to work. It might be Papas tenth time crossing the border, but for Marco it is his first crossing. One important phrase said by Papa was "My future and the children's future are marked in stone here". This is important because he is saying, in America there is a better life for him and his family.
I did not like all of the stories in this book, but I would still recommend this book to anyone that wants to read stories about people trying to fit in. Some of the stories I liked were " First Crossing", "They don't mean it", "Pulling up stakes", "Making Maddie mad", and "The Swede". Do the people fit in? Do they solve there problems find out by reading " First Crossing".
By Joshua Micallef

First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants gives a glimpse of our world through the eyes of strangers. The short stories are of teens from all parts of the globe who have immigrated to the United States and find themselves in a myriad of different circumstances. Although the characters are so different, they all share the common challenge of dealing with change and accepting differences. The reader will appreciate the insight given and hopefully come away with a new sense of understanding and a resolve to be more tolerant. Bonnie, Meridian, ID.

I was required to read this book for school, and found it throughly depressing. Its a series of short stories about teen immigrants, most of which end in sadness. Don't buy unless you like depressing stories.