: Muslim Refugees in the US Battle Culture Shock

One recent immigrant was trying to use a bus, but couldn’t understand the destination sign which read “Happy Holidays” and “Seasons Greetings.” Where are those places? Another recalls a clerk at the checkout counter in a grocery store asking him, “Paper or plastic?” He wondered how he could pay with paper or plastic instead of money. These are some of the stories of the adjustments many refugees and immigrants have to make to live in America. Mary Pipher’s new book, The Middle of Everywhere: The World’s Refugees Come to Our Town chronicles the lives of refugees, many of them Muslim, as they settle in places like Nebraska and North Dakota.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.