Lee (educational policy, U. of Wisconsin-Madison) follows a group of first- and second-generation Hmong students as their school experiences cause them to create identities as "new Americans." She uses the "compositional studies" method to analyze how these students' lives were influenced by the exclusion and alienation they found both in and out of the classroom, and how private and public institutions and social and economic structures affected their choices and behaviors. Lee examines how the students became racialized Americans, how they fit into the hierarchy of high school, how they chose their place on the spectrum from the traditional to the "Americanized," and how their experiences were gendered. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)