Passage is a book of poetry. Passage tells the story of a Central European family who immigrated to the United States-what they found, what they gained, and what they lost. The poems in the book show the fragmented history conveyed by family tales, when those are all that remain of the past. The poems also celebrate the richness of Hungarian and Slovak culture, and how those cultures contributed to, and were diminished by, American culture. Finally, Passage's historic view of immigration casts a clear, questioning light on how America treats its newcomers today.