Roots and Routes is a poignant study of the social integration and identity formation of female
refugee youth. Grounded in the practical experiences of adolescent Bosnian refugees living in
New York City the book gives voice to these youths' experiences as they develop a sense of
self in their newly adopted homes. Jacqueline Mosselson explores the tensions of affiliation
that this process of identity formation generates as the refugees seek to understand ties that
bind them to their past their homeland and their cultural and geographical roots. Of central
concern is the way the identities of refugee youth are affected by new understandings of
cultural capital and social expectations. Mosselson's work draws on the theoretical literature
of cultural studies and critical psychology to call into question long-held beliefs about the
ways refugees «adapt» to the United States. In this powerful and moving book the female
refugee informants speak back to and reflect on the constraints as well as the possibilities
of their transition migration and exile from their homelands.
