By Alison Emery
Green Card Voices has a web site greencardvoices.com and several books they have put together. I read Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a St. Paul High School (Green Card Voices, 2017). This book contains 30 short essays written by students from Saint Paul’s LEAP High School. In this inspiring book, students write about their families, their childhoods, the process of coming to the United States, learning English, and their dreams of the future.
In a society where people judge others by their heritage and don’t understand the process people go through to come to the United States, it is important to hear or read about the life experiences of people from other cultures. One of the ways we can break down stereotypes is to know the story of a person from a culture about whom the assumptions are made. If you don’t have a relationship with someone who is an immigrant or a refugee that makes you privy to this story, you can read these essential essays in this and other Green Card Voices books.
(This collection also contains a forward by Minnesota Book Award winner Bao Phi. The GCV website also suggests some other places where you can order the book during your time in shelter.)
Alison Emery
Find Your Book!
Need to get your hands on a good book while doing your work to shelter in place? The library is closed in a response of solidarity amid the COVID-19 crisis, but here are some places where you can get your hands on all the great titles. Shop independent bookstores!
SubText Books: https://subtextbooks.com/books
Moon Palace Books: https://www.moonpalacebooks.com/
The Red Balloon Bookshop: https://www.redballoonbookshop.com/
Birchbark Books: https://birchbarkbooks.com
Magers & Quinn: https://www.magersandquinn.com/
Next Chapter Booksellers: https://www.nextchapterbooksellers.com/
Irreverent Bookworm: https://irrevbooks.com/
Or you could even consider the amazing Powell’s in Portland: https://www.powells.com/; Book Shop, https://bookshop.org/; AbeBooks https://www.abebooks.com/; or Indie Bound, https://www.indiebound.org/