History Comics: Ellis Island: Immigration and the American Dream

by Felipe Galindo Feggo, Tait Howard (Illustrator)

Overview

Turn back the clock with History Comics! In this volume, take a visit to Ellis Island and learn America's immigration story.

Many Americans know someone who can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island. In addition to being part of the world-famous Statue of Liberty National Monument, this modest-sized piece of land once housed the main immigration processing center for the U.S., documenting upwards of 12 million people between 1892 and 1954! Over the generations, Ellis Island has taken on an almost mythic status as a beacon of hope to those seeking freedom and refuge from persecution. But how did it all get started?

Our past is only the beginning with History Comics, a riveting nonfiction graphic novel series from First Second!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250768780
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	01/21/2025
Series:	History Comics
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.05(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	9 - 13 Years

About the Author

Felipe Galindo Feggo creates humorous art in a variety of media, including cartoons, illustrations, animations, fine art, and public art. He received a BFA in Visual Arts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. His humorous drawings have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Nation, The Wall Street Journal, and international publications. His artwork has been exhibited, published, and awarded worldwide. His books include Cats Will Be Cats, Manhatitlan, and Taking Liberties.

Tait Howard is an artist and writer from the dreary Pacific Northwest. After graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design he has illustrated for GE and American Greetings, shown work in galleries across the country, and has worked on a wide variety of comics for companies including Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. You can find his work online on his website!

Editorial Reviews

History Comics: Ellis Island

"While the author compresses a huge story into relatively few pages, it’s an effectively told, moving history... Coherent, provocative, and more cogent than ever." —Kirkus Reviews

History Comics: The Stonewall Riots

"Accessible and intersectional, this compact foray into queer history is an essential purchase for all graphic nonfiction collections."—School Library Journal, starred review

History Comics: The Transcontinental Railroad

"Exhilarated readers will come away with clear enough pictures of the project’s costs and benefits to decide whether the one was worth the other. Suspenseful, grand of scope, and related with cinematic brio." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2024-10-12
An overview in graphic format of the facility through which so many immigrants to America passed.

A frame story involving a modern couple born in Mexico (their daughter says, “I was born here, a Mexicanewyorker!”) expands Feggo’s focus to include glances at the entire contentious history of voluntary or forced immigration to the U.S., past and present. In tribute to what he dubs “a modern-day Plymouth Rock,” he mostly traces the development of an uninhabited mound in waters near the Lenape island of Manahatta to the sprawling complex that opened in 1892, shuttered in 1954 after processing some 12 million new arrivals, and eventually became a museum. While the author compresses a huge story into relatively few pages, it’s an effectively told, moving history. Big steamships and the Statue of Liberty put in appearances, but most of the scenes in Howard’s neatly squared-off panels are people-centric. He first depicts Indigenous residents and European settlers in historical dress; later, anxious-looking figures or families make the arduous ocean crossing, step down gangplanks, and submit themselves to inspections. Crowds of headshots illustrate the ethnic diversity of all the new arrivals. For a finale, the modern museum’s restored, expansive main hall serves as a reminder of “where we all came from and the future we are all building…and rebuilding…TOGETHER!”

Coherent, provocative, and more cogent than ever. (afterword, photos)(Graphic history. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews