Kids in the Middle

VIKKI S. KATZ is an assistant professor of communication at Rutgers University. Her research explores the communication challenges immigrant Latino families face as they integrate into U.S. society. She is also co-author of Understanding Ethnic Media: Producers, Consumers, and Societies (2011).

• List of Tables Acknowledgments 1 Children, Family and Community 2 Settling in Greater Crenshaw 3 Child Brokers and Their Families 4 Community Begins at Home 5 Gateways to Wellbeing 6 Shortchanging the Immigrant Bargain? 7 Brokering and Its Consequences Appendix: Challenges of Departure Notes References Index

"Vikki Katz’s nuanced ethnography offers a fascinating analysis of how brokering performed by children of immigrants can both promote and undermine the larger immigrant bargain." - Robert Courtney Smith (Baruch School of Public Affairs and Sociology Department, Graduate Center, CUNY) "A rich synthesis of research on immigration and family dynamics integrated with data from a significant ethnographic research project, giving us a compelling view of the role some children in immigrant families play as brokers within their family systems and the consequences of this role for themselves and their families." (Journal of Child and Media) "This book is informative, insightful, and interesting. The chapters provide solid data and research, but also personal narratives that help the reader get a better understanding of child brokers and their unique responsibilities."(Journal of Youth and Adolescence) "With richly painted portraits of children and families working together in a variety of contexts, this book deepens our understanding of the complex work involved in immigrant family language brokering, as well as ways to support that work. Katz shows the critical role that youth play in giving families access to new media technologies as well as to health and wellness."- Marjorie Faulstich Orellana (UCLA) "Engaging like a novel, but solid as a major academic work … Katz has the ability to present theory, case studies, and findings in an engaging way that makes this topic relevant and comprehensible not only for academics but also for people who interact with immigrant families and child brokers on a daily basis." (International Journal of Communication) "Kids in the Middle is a timely, informative, and methodologically well-designed study. Katz impressively approaches the topic of children brokers with a multi-methodological design that will fill a gap in current scholarship." - Angie Y. Chung (University at Albany) "Vikki Katz’s nuanced ethnography offers a fascinating analysis of how brokering performed by children of immigrants can both promote and undermine the larger immigrant bargain." - Robert Courtney Smith (Baruch School of Public Affairs and Sociology Department, Graduate Center, CUNY) "A rich synthesis of research on immigration and family dynamics integrated with data from a significant ethnographic research project, giving us a compelling view of the role some children in immigrant families play as brokers within their family systems and the consequences of this role for themselves and their families." (Journal of Child and Media) "This book is informative, insightful, and interesting. The chapters provide solid data and research, but also personal narratives that help the reader get a better understanding of child brokers and their unique responsibilities."(Journal of Youth and Adolescence) "With richly painted portraits of children and families working together in a variety of contexts, this book deepens our understanding of the complex work involved in immigrant family language brokering, as well as ways to support that work. Katz shows the critical role that youth play in giving families access to new media technologies as well as to health and wellness."- Marjorie Faulstich Orellana (UCLA) "Kids in the Middle is a timely, informative, and methodologically well-designed study. Katz impressively approaches the topic of children brokers with a multi-methodological design that will fill a gap in current scholarship." - Angie Y. Chung (University at Albany) "Engaging like a novel, but solid as a major academic work … Katz has the ability to present theory, case studies, and findings in an engaging way that makes this topic relevant and comprehensible not only for academics but also for people who interact with immigrant families and child brokers on a daily basis." (International Journal of Communication)