How I Became and American

The Bibliography
Gündisch, Karin. 2001. How I Became an American. Chicago: Cricket Books. ISBN 0812648757

The Plot
In the beginning of the 1900s, Johann and his family immigrate to the United States from Austria-Hungary. Johann, now Johnny the American, writes in his diary the experiences he and his family have in their new lives in Youngstown, Ohio. His father works in a steel mill, his mother buys a small farm, his older brother moves to California, his sister is slightly boy crazy and wants to be a teacher, his younger brothers like stories and to mess their diapers and Johnny tells about how they become accustomed to life in a new country.

The Analysis
Reading How I Became an American made me miss the German exchange student my family hosted when I was in middle school. Even though Christoph came from a well-to-do family with summer houses all over Europe and really has nothing in common with Johann, I still thought of him while I read. The book, translated from German, was a simple read, nothing too serious happening, except for the death of Johann's baby sister, but even that was bearable because it was more common at the time, therefore the family wasn't dreadfully overcome by it. I enjoyed the translator's notes about German name days, Mord Amerika and Quark. I felt I learned quite a bit from this book, about emigrating, immigrating, and what it's like to be an American.

The Review
Florence Munat (VOYA, April 2002 (Vol. 25, No. 1))
Basing her 2002 Batchelder Award-winning novel on letters of the more than five million Eastern and Southeastern European immigrants to the United States around 1900, Gündisch describes a typical immigrant experience through the eyes of ten-year-old Johann "Johnny" Bonfert. The Bonfert family shared a two-room cottage in Austria-Hungary. Food was adequate but money scarce. When Johann's father and older brother travel to America to work in the steel mills of Youngstown, Ohio, they eventually save enough money to bring the rest of the family over, including a new baby. During the ocean crossing, Johann and his family endure cold, hunger, and seasickness. After clearing Ellis Island, they take a train to Youngstown. The baby soon dies as a result of unsanitary conditions in the ship's steerage. Despite their sorrow, the family members pull together and work hard--Johnny sells newspapers, his little brother delivers bakery rolls before school, and his older sister works as a maid--and at last they buy a boardinghouse for newly arrived immigrants. There is no high drama here--just the day-to-day activities of adjusting to a new country, language, and culture. Johnny understands his mother's homesickness and her attempt to replicate her old culture by starting a poultry business. He and his siblings adapt more quickly. While his parents anxiously await news from home, Johnny contemplates the working conditions at the mill and worries about his classmates who have dropped out of school to work there. Although the story is set one hundred years ago, new immigrants will spot similarities between the Bonferts' adjustment and their own experience.

The Connection
It would be interesting to invite someone from Germany to discuss life in Germany compared to life in America with kids and teens after reading this book. Of course, it would be quite different from Johnny's life, but it would still be a great experience! We could then discuss the differences between a 1900s immigrant and a more recent one! Now I feel like I need to give Christoph a call....