by Thi Bui
First published 2018
Sixty teenagers from around the world have found their way to Oakland International High School. Each carries a different story of leaving one country and building a life in America. Award-winning photographer Ericka McConnell captures their faces in full-page portraits that accompany their personal accounts. These young people describe what home means to them now. Their backgrounds span continents and cultures, yet they share the common experience of starting over in a new place. Some fled danger. Others followed family. All have learned to navigate between the worlds they left and the one they now inhabit. Their voices reveal the complexity of immigrant experiences beyond headlines and statistics. The book presents immigration through individual stories rather than political debates. All proceeds support Oakland International High School.
Genres: non-fiction, biography-memoir, photography
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, starting-over
Setting: America, Oakland, Oakland International High School
Period: 21st-century
128 pages · Paperback · Parallax Press