24 August 2015 I’M NEW HERE by Anne Sibley O’Brien, Charlesbridge, August 2015, 32p., ISBN: 978-1-58089-612-2

“Skyscrapers bloom in America.

Cadillacs zoom in America.

Industry boom in America.

Twelve in a room in America.”

Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, from West Side Story (1957)

Maria:

“Back home I knew the language.”

Jin:

“Back home I could read and write.”

Fatimah:

“Back home I was part of the class.”

Immigration has always been a heated topic of discussion. At the dawn of the twentieth century, plenty of people were appalled by the arrival of millions who streamed through Ellis Island, as my grandparents did. These days, immigration is a particularly contentious subject. Amid the debates over immigration, scarce attention is paid to the immigrant kids who must quickly adjust to a whole new world.

I know what it’s like to visit another country, where conversation, newspapers, television, and signs are all in a language I can’t understand. I also remember what it’s like to move to a new town and be led into a classroom of strangers. I can only imagine what it’s like to combine the two: moving halfway around the world and beginning school in a classroom of strangers who speak, read, and write in a foreign language.

I’M NEW HERE will help kids understand the challenges faced by young immigrants. The story features three newcomers: Maria from Guatemala, Jin from Korea, and Fatimah from Somalia.

“I say the words again and again. They feel like rocks in my mouth. My tongue twists and stumbles on the edges.”

There are several things I really like about I’M NEW HERE. It’s clever how some illustrations contain balloon-captioned conversation written in phonetic English. It forces us to focus on sounding out the words in order to recognize exactly what’s being said. I also appreciate how each of the three new kids discovers that his or her favorite endeavor from home--soccer, literacy, art--is available here, too. And, most importantly, I love that classmates are friendly, helpful, and encouraging to the newcomers.

It must always have been tough being an immigrant child. But with the degree of nastiness and fear mongering on the news these days, it must be particularly tough to be a new kid from another country--especially if, like Fatimah, one is dark-hued and wearing a headscarf. I’M NEW HERE is a great picture book to share with four-to-eight year olds (and probably with some grownups who could stand to learn a measure of empathy).

Richie Partington, MLIS

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