Critique of Non-Fiction Book #4

CRITIQUE OF NON-FICTION BOOK #4
August 5, 2007
Yumiko Kose

The purpose of the writers, Jean Lock Kunz and Louise Hanvey in the book “IMMIGRANT YOUTH IN CANADA”(Canadian Council on Social Development, 2000) is to show the challenges that recent young immigrants have faced in Canada. I agree that “integrating into a new social and cultural environment requires time and effort, as well as the support of the community”(Jean Lock Kunz and Louise Hanvey, 2000, p.23) as immigrants come from different cultural backgrounds with little knowledge of language.

It was interesting to read the voices of young immigrants talking about the integration into Canadian society, because it helped me to understand especially about how they see themselves and what role school play for them. The writers state that most of immigrant youth don’t feel Canadian and “don’t even expect to feel truly Canadian”(Jean Lock Kunz and Louise Hanvey, 2000, p.11). They explain that many immigrant youth are not sure about the meaning of “Canadian” and it is not a big problem for them. I understand that school is a place where they had difficulty such as teasing because of the accents, but at the same time it is a place for them to learn a language and make friends with similar backgrounds.

I have the same opinion as the writers that “immigrant youth generally adapt well to Canadian society over time”(Jean Lock Kunz and Louise Hanvey, 2000, p.23), because they can integrate into society faster than their parents as the writers explained. Though I wanted to know more about how immigrant youth got over their problems, this book gave me a general understanding of immigrant youth in Canada.