Past Meets Present in YA and MG Fiction

By Editorial Director Amy Fitzgerald

As a kid, I was obsessed with historical fiction. For me, it was an exciting escape from my generally comfortable but uneventful middle-class white life. Only later did I notice that it’s usually white people who fantasize about living in a different time.

We’ve gathered an array of immigration-centric fiction and nonfiction, from real-world experiences of teen refugees and Dreamers, reflections on identities rooted in two distinctly different cultures, and a heart-warming picture book about welcoming a refugee family. These books reveal incredible courage and fortitude.

Turning Heads with TeenTober

By Megan Ciskowski, Associate Publicist

What do young adults get really excited about? Art, music, cosplay? The library is the perfect place to introduce teens to their next great love.

The new YA novel Where I Belong follows Guatemalan American high school senior Millie Vargas as she struggles to balance her family’s needs with her own ambitions. Then Mr. Wheeler, a U.S. Senate candidate and her mother’s employer, mentions Millie’s achievements in a campaign speech about “deserving” immigrants. It doesn’t take long for people to identify Millie’s family and place them at the center of a statewide immigration debate. Millie must confront the complexity of her past, the uncertainty of her future, and her place in the country that she believed was home.

Read on to hear how author Marcia Argueta Mickelson started writing, which authors influence her work, and more! Don’t forget to download the FREE discussion guide.