First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants

First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants is a collection of short stories that purports to illuminate the experiences of young first-generation immigrants.

That's my summary.

Remember what I said in my last post about how perceptible an author's connection to her characters can be? First Crossing illustrates this point nicely-- that is to say (for the most part) horribly. In the endnotes, one author admits he was trying to settle on his character's country of origin, and settled on one after he saw a book on the library shelf. Some characters speak in broken English, even in their own narrative voice, others never progress beyond the stereotypical "what is this America?"

Where the authors manifest a stronger grasp of their characters' situations, these stories seem to be formulaic and diluted. I got the sense they were throwaway first drafts in the development of a novel.

I was sorely, SORELY disappointed by this collection. There is a huge need for these kinds of books for young adults. Sadly, I think this book is cashing in based on that need, without really delivering a product that does the concept justice. I hope we see more, and better, anthologies on this subject.