Angel Island

This book tells the story of the many immigrants who tried to enter the United States through Angel Island in California. Over 100 years ago, immigrants coming to California used to be held at Angel Island. The officials there would decide if a person was allowed to enter the country or sent back to their home country. People could be held for months and months waiting for a decision. Some people died or killed themselves. Chinese people who lived in the United States had to carry identification all the time or risk being deported.

Reading this book made me glad that I live today and not 100 years ago. My grandmother is Chinese, and I was shocked at how Americans used to treat Chinese people. It’s like they forgot what it meant to be Americans. The photos in the book are awesome. Actually, I spent more time looking the photos than I did reading the book. It has lots of great information, but I wouldn’t normally read all of it unless I was doing a book report. The parts about how immigrants lived at Angel Island were super interesting and very sad.