The Secret City

They came as extraterrestrial tourists, but something went wrong and their rides home never showed up. They can pass for human, although they are a little rough around the edges and think all earthlings dress in Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts. And there is a language problem. But they make do. The older generation remains disdainful of our backwards little planets, but the second generation find they kind of like it here. As the parents die off, the diaspora of alien young have to make it on their own. They can take low-paying jobs where people don't ask too many questions. Some slip into homelessness, Some dream of a Secret City where others of their kind live in anticipation of the long overdue ride home.

Emshwiller's short novel is a well-told and entertaining variation on the immigration story central to American history.