Here's a great list created by Holly Samuels, the librarian at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, on immigration (published with her permission):
Immigration Bibliography
*most popular choices
Fiction
An American Brat / Sidhwa, Bapsi (Pakistani girl sent to live with her uncle at MIT)
Ashes of Roses / Auch, Mary Jane (Irish immigrant girl in New York in 1911)
Behind the Mountains / Edwidge Danticat (immigration narrative, easier)
Becoming Mary Mehan / Jennifer Armstrong (Irish immigrant, during Civil War)
*Breath, Eyes, Memory / Edwidge Danticat (Haitian immigration)
*Born Confused / Tanuja Desai Hidier (Indian American- contemporary)
Chantrea Conway’s Story: A Voyage From Cambodia in 1975 / Clare Pastore (part of the series “Journey to America”)
*Children of the River / Linda Crew (Cambodian girl flees her war-torn country)
The Dew Breakers / Edwige Danticat (Ex-Haitian secret police living in New York confronts his haunted past)
Donald Duk / Frank Chin (Chinese American life)
Dreaming in Cuban / Cristina Garcia (Cuban family in exile, challenging)
Esperanza Rising / Pam Muñoz Ryan (Mexican girl immigrates in 1930s, easier)
*Fresh Girl / Placide, Jaira (Haitian immigrant girl in New York displeases her strict family)
*Grab Hands and Run / Frances Temple (Salvadoran refugees, easier)
Habibi / Naomi Shihab Nye (Palestinian/ American girl immigrates from America to Jerusalem, easier)
House of Sand and Fog / Andre Dubus (Iranian immigrant, challenging)
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents / Julia Alvarez (Dominican refugees)
Hundred Secret Senses / Amy Tan (Conflict between 2 very different Chinese American sisters
Joy Luck Club / Amy Tan (Chinese American, more challenging)
Kitchen God’s Wife / Amy Tan (Chinese American, more challenging)
*Last Cannoli / Camille Cusumano (Italian American family life, humorous)
Letters from Rifka / Karen Hesse (Ellis Island story, easier)
Line of the Sun / Judith Ortiz Cofer (Puerto Rican immigrant)
Lucy / Jamaica Kincaid (West Indian teen becomes nanny for New York family)
Namesake / Jhumpa Lahiri (Indian American boy struggles with his name and identity)
Nilda / Nicholasa Mohr (Puerto Rican girl in New York during WWII)
*Red Midnight / Ben Mikaelson (Guatemalan refugee, easier)
*A Step from Heaven / An Na (Korean American, contemporary)
Streets of Gold / Marie Raphael (Polish immigrants in early 1900s, easier)
Yokohama, California / Toshi Mori (Japanese-American life pre-World War II)
Short Story Collections
American Eyes: New Asian American Short Stories for Young Adults / Lori M. Carlson, editor
The Boy without a Flag: Tales from the South Bronx / Abraham Rodriguez
The Butterfly’s Way: Voices from the Haitian Diaspora in America/ Edwige Danticat
Growing Up Chicano: An Anthology / Tiffany Ann Lopez, editor
Growing Up Ethnic in America: Contemporary Fiction about Learning to be American / Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Jennifer Gillan, editors
Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States/ Nicolås Kanellos, editor
Interpreter of the Maladies: Stories / Jhumpa Lahiri (East Indian Americans)
Join In: Multiethnic Short Stories / Donald R. Gallo, editor
*Krik? Krak! / Edwidge Danticat (Haitian Americans)
Passage to Ararat / Michael Arlen (Armenian-American’s search for identity)
Prentice Hall Anthology of Latino Literature / Eduardo del Rio
Biography
Tis / Frank McCourt (Irish immigrant in New York City)
*Angela’s Ashes / Frank McCourt (Growing up in Ireland)
***Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. / Luis Rodriguez (Mexican American)
Black Cuban, Black American: A Memoir / Evelio Grillo
Border Trilogy ( Mexican-American Immigration Experience, challenging):
***Down These Mean Streets / Piri Thomas (Puerto Rican in New York)
Escape From Slavery / Francis Bok (Sudanese man tells his modern story)
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez / Richard Rodriguez (contemporary, challenging)
Kinship: A family’s Journey in Africa and American / Philippe E. Wamba
Next Year in Cuba: A Cubano’s Coming-of-Age in America / Gustavo Perez Frimat
Nisei Daughter / Monica Sone (Japanese American girl living in an internment camp)
Paper Daughter / Elaine Mar (Chinese American, contemporary)
Quiet Odyssey / May Paik Lee (Korean American)
Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American / Jean-Robert Cadet
Teenage Refugees from Ethiopia Speak Out / LaDena Schnapper (many countries covered in this series, short testimonials from different teens in each book; supplementary reading)
West of Kabul, East of New York / Tamim Ansary (Afghan American)
***When I was a Puerto Rican / Esmeralda Santiago (Growing up in rural Puerto Rico and New York City)
Woman Warrior / Maxine Hong Kingston (Chinese American)
Immigration Bibliography
*most popular choices
Fiction
An American Brat / Sidhwa, Bapsi (Pakistani girl sent to live with her uncle at MIT)
Ashes of Roses / Auch, Mary Jane (Irish immigrant girl in New York in 1911)
Behind the Mountains / Edwidge Danticat (immigration narrative, easier)
Becoming Mary Mehan / Jennifer Armstrong (Irish immigrant, during Civil War)
*Breath, Eyes, Memory / Edwidge Danticat (Haitian immigration)
*Born Confused / Tanuja Desai Hidier (Indian American- contemporary)
Chantrea Conway’s Story: A Voyage From Cambodia in 1975 / Clare Pastore (part of the series “Journey to America”)
*Children of the River / Linda Crew (Cambodian girl flees her war-torn country)
The Dew Breakers / Edwige Danticat (Ex-Haitian secret police living in New York confronts his haunted past)
Donald Duk / Frank Chin (Chinese American life)
Dreaming in Cuban / Cristina Garcia (Cuban family in exile, challenging)
Esperanza Rising / Pam Muñoz Ryan (Mexican girl immigrates in 1930s, easier)
*Fresh Girl / Placide, Jaira (Haitian immigrant girl in New York displeases her strict family)
*Grab Hands and Run / Frances Temple (Salvadoran refugees, easier)
Habibi / Naomi Shihab Nye (Palestinian/ American girl immigrates from America to Jerusalem, easier)
House of Sand and Fog / Andre Dubus (Iranian immigrant, challenging)
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents / Julia Alvarez (Dominican refugees)
Hundred Secret Senses / Amy Tan (Conflict between 2 very different Chinese American sisters
Joy Luck Club / Amy Tan (Chinese American, more challenging)
Kitchen God’s Wife / Amy Tan (Chinese American, more challenging)
*Last Cannoli / Camille Cusumano (Italian American family life, humorous)
Letters from Rifka / Karen Hesse (Ellis Island story, easier)
Line of the Sun / Judith Ortiz Cofer (Puerto Rican immigrant)
Lucy / Jamaica Kincaid (West Indian teen becomes nanny for New York family)
Namesake / Jhumpa Lahiri (Indian American boy struggles with his name and identity)
Nilda / Nicholasa Mohr (Puerto Rican girl in New York during WWII)
*Red Midnight / Ben Mikaelson (Guatemalan refugee, easier)
*A Step from Heaven / An Na (Korean American, contemporary)
Streets of Gold / Marie Raphael (Polish immigrants in early 1900s, easier)
Yokohama, California / Toshi Mori (Japanese-American life pre-World War II)
Short Story Collections
American Eyes: New Asian American Short Stories for Young Adults / Lori M. Carlson, editor
The Boy without a Flag: Tales from the South Bronx / Abraham Rodriguez
The Butterfly’s Way: Voices from the Haitian Diaspora in America/ Edwige Danticat
Growing Up Chicano: An Anthology / Tiffany Ann Lopez, editor
Growing Up Ethnic in America: Contemporary Fiction about Learning to be American / Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Jennifer Gillan, editors
Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States/ Nicolås Kanellos, editor
Interpreter of the Maladies: Stories / Jhumpa Lahiri (East Indian Americans)
Join In: Multiethnic Short Stories / Donald R. Gallo, editor
*Krik? Krak! / Edwidge Danticat (Haitian Americans)
Passage to Ararat / Michael Arlen (Armenian-American’s search for identity)
Prentice Hall Anthology of Latino Literature / Eduardo del Rio
Biography
Tis / Frank McCourt (Irish immigrant in New York City)
*Angela’s Ashes / Frank McCourt (Growing up in Ireland)
***Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. / Luis Rodriguez (Mexican American)
Black Cuban, Black American: A Memoir / Evelio Grillo
Border Trilogy ( Mexican-American Immigration Experience, challenging):
- Across the Wire / Luis Alberto Urrea
- Lake of Sleeping Children / Luis Alberto Urrea
- Nobody’s Son: Notes from an American Life / Luis Alberto Urrea
***Down These Mean Streets / Piri Thomas (Puerto Rican in New York)
Escape From Slavery / Francis Bok (Sudanese man tells his modern story)
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez / Richard Rodriguez (contemporary, challenging)
Kinship: A family’s Journey in Africa and American / Philippe E. Wamba
Next Year in Cuba: A Cubano’s Coming-of-Age in America / Gustavo Perez Frimat
Nisei Daughter / Monica Sone (Japanese American girl living in an internment camp)
Paper Daughter / Elaine Mar (Chinese American, contemporary)
Quiet Odyssey / May Paik Lee (Korean American)
Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American / Jean-Robert Cadet
Teenage Refugees from Ethiopia Speak Out / LaDena Schnapper (many countries covered in this series, short testimonials from different teens in each book; supplementary reading)
West of Kabul, East of New York / Tamim Ansary (Afghan American)
***When I was a Puerto Rican / Esmeralda Santiago (Growing up in rural Puerto Rico and New York City)
Woman Warrior / Maxine Hong Kingston (Chinese American)