The Book Blogger Hop/Book Beginnings/ The Friday 56 5/19/2017

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Ramblings of A Coffee-Addicted Writer, Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader. The idea is to share a sentence or so from the first page and the 56th page of the book you are currently reading!  Also, I will now also include a brief synopsis.

This week's Book Blogger Hop's question.

What do you do with books you no longer want? Do you donate them? Do you take them to a half-price bookstore? Does a friend or family member benefit?

I brought a whole bunch of books to be donated some months back.  Most of my books now are on my Kindle and unfortunately can't be shared or passed onto others.  The physical books that I still have I want to keep at this time, but will donate if I decide to get rid of some of them.

A Brief Synopsis:  American attitudes toward immigrants are paradoxical. On the one hand, we see our country as a haven for the poor and oppressed; anyone, no matter his or her background, can find freedom here and achieve the “American Dream.” On the other hand, depending on prevailing economic conditions, fluctuating feelings about race and ethnicity, and fear of foreign political and labor agitation, we set boundaries and restrictions on who may come to this country and whether they may stay as citizens. This book explores the way government policy and popular responses to immigrant groups evolved throughout U.S. history, particularly between 1800 and 1965. The book concludes with a summary of events up to contemporary times, as immigration again becomes a hot-button issue. Includes an author’s note, bibliography, and index. 

Beginning of the Book

All eight of my grandparents were born in Italy.  They came to the United States in the 1880s and 1890s.  At least two of them arrived before 1892 when Ellis Island opened to process the millions of people emigrating from Europe.  My grandparents were immigrants to this country.  So were the English settlers of Jamestown in 1607 and the Pilgrims in 1620.

Page 56

That's how it was for me, too, four years ago.  But I went to school and now maybe I will get a better job because of it.  And then my family will come over and our dreams will be true.

I was hoping to be done reading this and on to the next book, but you know how life always gets into the way of reading.  I should be done with this by the end of today or early on Saturday, but I'm not positive on which book will be next.