Transition & Family

First Year Reading Experience

About this year's book

The Office of Transition and Family Relations, along with the Common Reader Committee, have selected "The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens" by author Brooke Hauser as the freshmen common reader for the 2012-13 academic year.

"The New Kids" is a fascinating look at the experiences of immigrant teenagers from 45 countries who make their way to Brooklyn's International High School.

A singular work of narrative journalism, "The New Kids" is immersion reporting at its most compelling as Hauser takes readers deep inside the dramas of five International High School students who are at once ordinary and extraordinary in their separate paths to the American dream.

This book is perfect for Tarleton's first-year students as readers will gain an appreciation of the difficulties of transitioning into a new environment as they themselves leave their own worlds behind upon entering Tarleton State University.

Reviews

• "Brooke Hauser's 'The New Kids' is a beautifully written and deeply moving account of young people trying to find their place in the new America."  –Warren St. John, author of "Outcasts United"
• "Rich with cinematic detail, 'The New Kids' is a moving, sharply observed portrait of the modern immigrant experience, told through the lens of something we can all relate to: high school. The struggles and triumphs of Hauser's young subjects are as dramatic and inspiring as anything you'll find on the fiction shelves."  –Ransom Riggs, author of "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"
• "Hauser's first book is a real-life 'Tower of Babel' (but with raging hormones) where kids from over 45 different countries share a school in Prospect Heights. Hauser, a fly-on-the-wall narrator, describes what it's like to be a young immigrant in America, from raunchy school dances to after-school seminars on how to avoid deportation, along with the everyday problems teens in America face."  –Billy Heller, New York Post

Some of the information on this page was obtained from brookehauser.com

Upcoming FYRE Events

• Check back for updates about events and activities that support the First Year Reading Experience common reader.

About the author

Brooke Hauser has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Allure, among other publications. She is originally from Miami, Florida, and now divides her time between New York City and western Massachusetts. The New Kids: Big Dreams Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens is her first book. For more information, visit brookehauser.com

Committee

• Dr. Kathleen Mollick, Asst. Professor of English & Languages
• Dr. Gilbert Hinga, Assoc. Vice President for Student Life
• Shelly Brown, Asst. Director for Residential Living & Learning
• Manon Shockey, Instructor of Environmental and Agricultural Management
• Michael Barnette, Coordinator for Transition and Family Relations
• Elizabeth Wallace, Director for Residential Living & Learning
• Tracey Holley, Instructor of Communication Studies
• Paula Smith, Student