Forthright and Reflective

Jen Sookfong Lee has curated an incredible and comprehensive resource all about immigrantion and the experience of immigrants in Canada in Finding Home: The Journey of Immigrants and Refugees.

Written for a middle grade audience, I would encourage readers who are middle grade and older to pick up this incredible resource. Jen Sookfong Lee provides incredible detail over four chapters delving into the history of human migrations, what it looks like today, racism and ant-immigration sentiments and what life is like for refugees and immigrants in their new homes. 

This book is incredibly honest. Jen Sookfong Lee ensures that readers understand how immigration can be life saving and provide many opportunities but also highlights the ugly side of humans by clearly ensuring readers understand the impacts of colonization throughout the world, anti immigration policy and the racism experienced by immigrants and refugees in their new chosen countries. How arriving in a new country has its positives and negatives but ultimately, immigration is a positive not only for those coming to a new country but for the country itself.

Immigration is a very complex topic and this book breaks it down in a really easy to understand way. I really loved all of the boxes of text titled Moving On and Migration Facts breaking down extra interesting information relevant to the topic discussed in the larger text area. I also loved how each chapter ends with profiles of people who have come to Canada either as landed immigrants, refugees or asylum seekers. Providing readers with actual first hand accounts of real experiences shapes the book and provides concrete context to the experiences. There are so many people, children, families who will see their same experiences reflected through these first hand accounts.  

The illustrations by Drew Shannon and the many photographs throughout the book show readers how much things have changed and the things still in great need of improvement.