The Book of Unknown Americans
A boy and a girl who fall in love. Two families whose hopes collide with destiny. An extraordinary novel that offers a resonant new definition of what it means to be American. Woven into their stories are the testimonials of men and women who have come to the United States from all over Latin America. Their journeys and their voices will inspire you, surprise you, and break your heart. Suspenseful, wry and immediate, rich in spirit and humanity, The Book of Unknown Americans is a work of rare force and originality.
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Community Reviews
A captivating story about residents of an apartment complex in Delaware, all immigrants from different Spanish-speaking countries.
The book mostly centers around Alma and Arturo and their daughter, 15-year-old Maribel. They're the newcomers, freshly arrived from Mexico, where Maribel suffered a TBI. They loved their home in Mexico but decided to come to America so Maribel could get the help she needed to recover.
Mayor is the teenaged son of their neighbors and good friends. He feels like a bit of an outcast, and when he sees Maribel for the first time, he falls in love with her, not knowing anything about her injury. They end up forming a friendship and a blossoming romance, and it seems as though his attention has helped her recovery along somewhat.
But there's a local troublemaker who also has his eye on Maribel and determined to get his way.
The author forms little vignettes of the histories of the neighbors and the central characters that help inform their actions and the decisions they made which all intersect in one horrific event.
The book mostly centers around Alma and Arturo and their daughter, 15-year-old Maribel. They're the newcomers, freshly arrived from Mexico, where Maribel suffered a TBI. They loved their home in Mexico but decided to come to America so Maribel could get the help she needed to recover.
Mayor is the teenaged son of their neighbors and good friends. He feels like a bit of an outcast, and when he sees Maribel for the first time, he falls in love with her, not knowing anything about her injury. They end up forming a friendship and a blossoming romance, and it seems as though his attention has helped her recovery along somewhat.
But there's a local troublemaker who also has his eye on Maribel and determined to get his way.
The author forms little vignettes of the histories of the neighbors and the central characters that help inform their actions and the decisions they made which all intersect in one horrific event.
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