* “Does this book engage freshmen, and draw them into reading and reflection?”
Hard to tell how freshmen will react. I, as a mother, was drawn in right away (in the Introduction).
* “Does this book encourage freshmen to grow intellectually?”
I think about the topic of the book, yes. As readers, no.
* “Does this book encourage thought and discussion in a variety of courses and contexts?”
Yes.
* “Does this book value diverse cultural perspectives?”
Yes.
* “Does this book address contemporary social issues?”
Yes.
PRO: Relevant issue in immigration, some aspects of life in Latin America likely eye-opening to some of our student population. Themes of immigration, gangs, exploitation, broken families all offer lots of discussion opportunities.
CON: Found the style of the book kind of like a laundry list, and I tired of reading incident after incident. I found the intro fascinating, but once I got to the main book, I felt I was reading the same information as in the intro, but just in a much drawn out form. The simplistic, newspaper-style format might be well-suited to developmental readers, but I don’t know if it will hold the interest of more advanced readers.
—Carolyn Darin
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