Teenage Immigrant

Anne Ipsen's latest memoir describes a six year period starting in 1946 with the departure of Anne and her parents from Denmark, first as visitors to the USA, then in 1948 as immigrants. It is a sequel to A Child's Tapestry of War, the story of the author's childhood during the World War II occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany. Anne's parents are not typical immigrants fleeing from oppression but part of the post-war European Brain Drain. Both parents speak fluent English and Dr. Ipsen is a medical researcher and eventual University Professor. Even eleven-year-old Anne has two years of school English to help her adjust to new friends and new schools. Yet, life is not simple for a teenager who did not want to leave her home but was transported to a new country and a new culture because of decisions made by others. With the same forthrightness and sense of humor that characterized her earlier work, Anne describes the ups and downs of her adjustment and gradual assimilation. She finally realizes that she has outgrown the childhood of her memories and makes a conscious choice to remain in the United States. Although Anne had the support of a sensitive family and her experiences were far from typical, everyone who had to leave a childhood home and adjust to a different way of life will relate to this story of the adolescence of a teenage immigrant.