The Book of Unknown Americans

by Cristina Henríquez

Paperback, 2015

Status

Available

Genres

General Fiction

All Topics

Fiction

Publication

Vintage (2015), Edition: Reprint, 304 pages

Description

Young Adult Literatur HTML:�??A triumph of storytelling. Henríquez pulls us into the lives of her characters with such mastery that we hang on to them just as fiercely as they hang on to one another and their dreams. This passionate, powerful novel will stay with you long after you�??ve turned the final page.�?� �??Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn�??s Long Halftime Walk 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. Arturo and Alma Rivera have lived their whole lives in Mexico. One day, their beautiful fifteen-year-old daughter, Maribel, sustains a terrible injury, one that casts doubt on whether she�??ll ever be the same. And so, leaving all they have behind, the Riveras come to America with a single dream: that in this country of great opportunity and resources, Maribel can get better. When Mayor Toro, whose family is from Panama, sees Maribel in a Dollar Tree store, it is love at first sight. It�??s also the beginning of a friendship between the Rivera and Toro families, whose web of guilt and love and responsibility is at this novel�??s core. 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. Read by Yareli Arizmendi, Christine Avila, Jesse Corti, Gustavo Res, Ozzie Rodriguez, a… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member brangwinn

When you see Hispanic immigrant people living in poor housing, do you assume they’re all from Mexico and probably illegal aliens? You need to read this story. Told by residents of a run-down apartment building, the reader’s eyes will be opened as to why people from Puerto Rico, Guatemala,

Panama, Nicaragua and Mexico have come to America and have probably been doing jobs no one else wants to do. The story is told mainly by two characters, Alma, who has come to America to find a better education for her mentally disabled daughter and Mayor, a teenaged neighbor, who has fallen in love with Alma’s daughter. It’s a story of struggle, the building of a community, and ultimately sadness.

Show Less

24 more

LibraryThing member bowedbookshelf

This story recounts the immigrant experience of a vast array of Latinos on the eastern central coast of America, in Delaware. It moves in for close-ups of two families in particular, one Panamanian and one Mexican. Both families are legal immigrants, one coming to the United States for medical

care, the other for opportunity.

Christina Henriquez manages to make the experiences of these two families ring true and universal. Especially interesting was the voice of Mayor Toro, teenager and younger brother to a high school soccer star. He had a lot to live up to, and his vulnerability was everywhere apparent. His interest in a beautiful but brain-damaged young woman, Maribel, in a nearby apartment led to unforeseen and tragic consequences. The chain of events had a kind of logic to them that began in ignorance and fear, and were sustained by the well-known uncommunicativeness of teenagers.

Henriquez’ use of first-person narration, changing the ‘voice’ from one chapter to another, gave the piece immediacy and truthfulness. Often we can hear an individual thinking and speaking; the overlapping points of view give the story tension and the listener can see a crisis foreshadowed long before the conclusion is revealed. The final chapter is given finally to the father of Mexican family who reveals his pleasure in the struggle they have undergone, despite its many disappointments.

Show Less

LibraryThing member maneekuhi

This book, barely 300 pages, is incredibly rich; it offers so much to the reader. It tells a very powerful story, one that will stay with you for some time. "Unknown Americans" focuses on a small community of Latin American immigrants, particularly two families, living in an apartment complex in

Newark, Delaware, of all places. At an impromptu Christmas day get-together in a cramped, unheated apartment, they toast each other's origins by calling out their places of birth to cheers and laughter: "Panama ! Mexico! Puerto Rico ! Nicaragua ! .....". It is an incredible scene and the reader is struck by the realization of how little they have yet how much they have. Despite some of the "love at first sight" blurbs that are used to promote this book, this is not a romance. UA deals with their struggles day to day, just to survive. Losing jobs, finding jobs, doing menial work, e.g., picking mushrooms in darkened sheds. But then author Henriquez counters with incredible passages dealing with hopes, dreams, small victories. Unfortunately, there is not always a pot of gold at the end of everyone's rainbow, and some are forced to return, occasionally for the most tragic reasons, to their places of births. This is a very emotional story, very uplifting, very well written; I cannot recall one false note in this book, nor one thing I would have changed. I believe that it would be difficult for any native American to read this book and not come away with kinder, gentler feelings toward all immigrants, but particularly those from Latin America.

Show Less

LibraryThing member SamSattler

Cristina Henriquez’s The Book of Unknown Americans is the story of a group of immigrants, some of whom came to America legally and some who did not, who live in the same Delaware apartment building. They are from places like Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama, and to each other, they do not always

seem to have a lot in common. But what they most certainly do have in common is the single most important thing about them: they are in the United States to create better lives for themselves and their children. They are among the bravest and the most desperate of people.

Henriquez tells their story through two principle voices: Alma, a young Mexican mother; and Mayor, a Panamanian teen who falls in love with Alma’s daughter. In addition to these two narrators, numerous minor characters are given voice in short bursts of first person narration interspersed between the alternating chapters from Alma and Mayor.

Alma and her husband have just arrived from Mexico with their daughter Maribel, a beautiful teenager suffering the effects of a traumatic brain injury she suffered there. Having come to the U.S. legally, they are here strictly to get Maribel the kind of special schooling that is not available to her in their home country. Mayor’s family, on the other hand, left Panama years earlier when his parents decided that Panama was too dangerous a place in which to raise a family. The family has been in the U.S. long enough now that Mayor and his older brother think of themselves as Americans, not as immigrants from Panama.

As different as the residents of the building are, they function more as an extended family than as a bunch of people who just happen to live in the same apartment building. New residents, most of whom barely speak English, are quickly taken under the wings of those who have been in the building long enough to understand all subtleties and shortcuts associated with their shared situation. On weekends, the families sometimes gather for meals where the men tell “war-stories” about their jobs, the women tell stories about their children, and televised soccer matches blare in the background.

The Book of Unknown Americans, while it does effectively put human faces on a few of the often indistinguishable thousands of Latin Americans immigrating to the U.S. each year, paints such an idealized picture of them that it loses much of its impact and sense of realism. Unfortunately, this gives the novel just enough of a one-sided feel that many of its characters become more stereotypical than authentic. Alma, Maribel, and Mayor, though, are such sympathetic characters that their story is an interesting one worth reading.

Show Less

LibraryThing member Poppy21

This is a story of a community told in short narratives by various community members. The characters become full, interesting and sympathetic people whose lives and opinions became important to me as I read their stories. It is a well woven story of intertwined lives, one which will leave me a

better person for having read it.

Show Less

LibraryThing member bookmuse56

Every now and then I read a book that just touches my heart. The Book of Unknown Americans is such a book. From the first pages I was captivated by the sustained voices of the characters written with such grace and dignity as I felt their humanity, hopefulness, and despair to do what they had to do

ensure a better life for their children and often, times themselves. I so enjoyed how the author connects the reader to the characters.
The story opens with Arturo and Alma Rivera arriving in Newark, Delaware with their daughter, Maribel. The Riveras have sold their construction business, left their comfortable life in Mexico so that Maribel can get the education and treatment to hopefully recover as best as she can from the brain damage caused by an unfortunate accident. That first night in a bare-bones apartment that has been better days, Alma listens to her husband and daughter sleeping and thinks:
“The surge of possibility. The tug of doubt. Had we done the right thing coming here? Of course, I know the answer. We had done what we had to do.”
As we follow the Riveras journey, meeting the Toros and other Central and Latin American immigrants we learn of their plights realizing these are slices of life that happen universally. But because of who these immigrants are often times they are defined by preconceived notions not as individuals.
“I felt the way I often felt in this country-simultaneously conspicuous and invisible, like an oddity whom everyone noticed but chose to ignore.”
For me the interesting title is summed up by one of the characters.
“We’re the unknown Americans, the ones no one even wants to know, because maybe if they did take the time to get to know us, they might realize that we’re not that bad, maybe event that we’re a lot like them.”
Henriquez’s masterful story is compassionate, courageous and creative. The compelling characters encapsulate the undulating sweet-and-sour spectrum of life and will stay with you after turning the last page. I recommend this book to readers who are looking for an entertaining yet thought-provoking read.

Show Less

LibraryThing member shazjhb

Living in America the faces and stories of many immigrants are ignored or dismissed under the noise of immigrant policy. This book will make my top 20 list

LibraryThing member Mathenam

The Book of Unknown Americans is a novel about US immigrants. I loved several things about this book, starting with the writing style, in general. I thought the author had a "real" voice and she extended that believability to her characters. I also loved how the book focused on legal immigration,

and/or those immigrants who are law abiding and hard working citizens in their community. How timely, when there is such media chatter about immigration with the focus on those who are illegal, or those who commit crimes once they arrive. Lastly, I thought this book shed light on bias, referring to passages in the book about how people of color are treated and many experience prejudice without anyone even speaking to them or knowing them. I think this book would make an excellent book discussion title. I knocked off half a point for the chapters about immigrants that were not relevant to the main characters' story.

Show Less

LibraryThing member TooBusyReading

“I know some people here think we're trying to take over, but we just want to be a part of it. We want to have our stake. This is our home, too.”

So how do immigrants from Mexico and other countries south end up in Delaware of all places? There is no one answer, but this lovely novel tells the

stories of several families, and does so in a eyes-wide-open way, with compassion but not blinders. Not all are likable, not all are painted with the same broad brush, each is an individual. And their stories are fascinating. The writing is straightforward, lyrical without being pretentious.

The story is told from the viewpoint of several different characters, each with his or her own voice. The characters tie together in various ways and relationships – this is not a book of disjointed stories although early in the book it may seem to be.

The story is not a preachy one. There are no miraculous answers to the immigration situation. But it does help those of us who have never wanted to live somewhere we're not wanted see a little more clearly while being entertained with a great stories.

“We are the unknown Americans, the ones no one even wants to know, because they've been told they're supposed to be scared of us and because if they did take the time to get to know us, they might realize that we're not that bad, maybe even that we're a lot like them. And who would they hate then?”

Because I was given an advance readers copy of this novel for review, the quotes may be different in the published edition.

Show Less

LibraryThing member ecataldi

This book made me feel, which is more than I can say about a lot of other novels. It pulled at my heartstrings and made me open my eyes to an issue that a lot of Americans don't really think or care about much, immigration. Arturo and Alma move from Mexico to the US (legally, in case you're

wondering) to seek help for their brain damaged daughter. They've been told that the schools in the United States are better equipped to deal with special needs children so they decide to uproot their lives so that their beautiful daughter Maribel might have a shot a rehabilitation. Arturo takes an unskilled low paying job at a mushroom farm and his wife and daughter settle in to their new apartment. They find themselves surrounded by immigrants from all over: Panama, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, etc. Together they form a mismatched community or safe haven. They have each others backs as they try to adjust to the American way of life. One of the teenage boys from Panama sets his sight on Maribel and looks past her brain damage to see a sweet, loving, confused girl. Together they try to navigate their relationship just as their parents are doing.

Beautifully told and heartbreaking this novel is told through the voices of the immigrants. Each resident in the apartment complex tells their story on why they came to America and how it has or hasn't lived up to their expectations. The two key voices however, are Alma and Mayor (the Panamanian boy), and each vignette helps piece together the story of trying to make a life in America.

It's a fast, hard to put down book filled with compassion, brutal honesty, and the perseverance of the human spirit.

Show Less

LibraryThing member amydelpo

Okay for older middle schoolers and teens. An interesting and human look at immigration -- with a teen love story at the core. Still, there are two scenes -- pretty tame -- but that show people having sex.

LibraryThing member sleahey

Another book describing a community through alternate voices and vignettes, this tells of a neighborhood with residents hailing from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and various Latin American countries. The focus is on the families of Maribel and Mayor, teens who fall in love, seeing qualities in each other

that no one else recognizes. At times it seems that characters are introduced who don't add much to the novel, perhaps detracting from the intensity of the main story. This is an important version of the American dream, however, with all of its hopes and failings.

Show Less

LibraryThing member lahochstetler

The Unknown Americans at the heart of this book are Latino immigrants to the United States. This novel provides a close look at a community of these "unknown Americans." The Rivera family emigrates to Delaware, seeking treatment for the brain damage their daughter, Maribel, sustained in an

accident. Maribel Rivera falls in love with a neighbor's teenage son, Toro Mayor, a boy whose sensitivity and lack of athleticism makes him a disappointment to his father. Maribel and Toro's relationship blossoms, as the adults attempt to deal with cultural dislocation, employment issues, and neighborhood politics. As we see this immigrant community close-up, we can see that this is a community that is tremendously hopeful for the future, despite tremendous difficulties. The characters in the book are beautifully drawn, and it is well worth reading.

Show Less

LibraryThing member msf59

Two Latin immigrant families, one Panamanian, one Mexican, are living in a rundown apartment building in Delaware. Told from alternating narratives, the story unfolds of how these people made their way to America and their various struggles to survive in a new country.
This is a well-written novel,

from an interesting perspective and captures the immigrant experience, in an honest and thoughtful manner.

Show Less

LibraryThing member chrisblocker

It's easy to go into a book with such a lucid title as The Book of Unknown Americans and know what you're getting. Though its subject and perspective is clearly a sensitive exploration of what it means to be of Hispanic origin in America, this novel doesn't stop there. There's so much more to it.

In fact, in the end, I felt The Book of Unknown Americans more adequately tapped the subject of brain-injured Americans than any other topic.

Overall, The Book of Unknown Americans is a lovely and poignant tale. The primary narratives, told through the alternating voices of Alma and Mayor, were a pleasure to read. The secondary narratives, chapters entwined with the primary ones told in many different voices, were sometimes a little too cliched and simple, although their purpose became clear in the end. What pulled me into this book was Maribel and her relationship with Mayor. Although that may have not been the intended subject of the novel, it is what kept me hooked. Both Maribel and Mayor were written with such sensitivities that I found myself enthralled by them, wrapped up in whatever relationship might develop.

The structure and voice all come together in the end to create a heartfelt and well-told tale. Although it was probably not the author's intention originally, I do feel as though the novel belonged to Maribel and Mayor. I'd have liked to have had more time with them, but it wasn't meant to be. The Book of Unknown Americans is the sort of novel that is a pleasure to read, but doesn't necessarily stick with you. The characters and their trials were real, but not entirely memorable. Alma's tale was excruciatingly gut wrenching, especially her final chapters, but it was her daughter's story that sticks with me. It was Maribel who remained the biggest unknown and whom I desperately wanted to know better.

Show Less

LibraryThing member amandacb

This book was a surprise to me. I don't want to give too much away, because spoilers, but I was not expecting the ending. The Book of Unknown Americans chronicles the lives of tenants in a run-down apartment building; they are immigrants struggling to make a life in America. What is striking is the

level of friendship and support they provide for each other. Alma was my favorite character, and her guilt over Maribel profoundly touching.

Show Less

LibraryThing member joeydag

Quite sentimental and at time poetic story of a number of immigrants living in Wilmington, Delaware. There are a number of different narrators and that lends a bit of dis-order to the story. I'm not quite sure what genre to place this. There are young adult characters but the story is more than

their love story.

Show Less

LibraryThing member klburnside

This book follows two families who move from Latin America to an apartment complex in Delaware. There are also various chapters told from the perspectives of other immigrants who have moved to the apartment complex.

I really liked the book, but it was also very sad. Many of the characters have a

lot of struggles adapting to life in the United States and there is some tragedy.

I have read a lot of novels that feature strong Latina women, and in doing so, these novels often seem to paint a negative portrait of Latino men. They often seem to be abusive and womanizing, or just completely absent from family life. This book features a refreshing change in the character of Arturo, a loving and supportive husband and father.

Show Less

LibraryThing member ewyatt

In a book told in voices from different Latinos who journeyed to America, the book tells the story of a community in Delaware specifically focusing mostly on the Rivera Family and their neighbors.

LibraryThing member porch_reader

Alma and Arturo Rivera have left their home in Mexico in search of a school that can help their daughter, Maribel. They move into an apartment complex and soon realize that they are a part of a community of immigrants, all with different stories, different challenges, and the resilience that comes

from hard work and strong community. The story centers around a developing relationship between Maribel and Mayor Toro, a high school boy who seems to do nothing but disappoint his father. But in between the chapters about Maribel and Mayor, we hear from other immigrants whose stories add texture to the book. This is an unassuming book with short chapters and a straightforward story, but what sets it apart is the depth of empathy that I developed for the Rivera and Toro families. I came to care deeply for these characters, especially Maribel and Mayor. My heart broke when they faced hardships, but in the end, this is a story about hope, even in the face of hardship.

Show Less

LibraryThing member haymaai

This thought-provoking novel written by Christina Henriquez evolves around the young, ill-fated relationship between a brain-damaged teenage girl, Maribel and Mayor, a gawky, Panamanian boy. Mayor is a bit of a ‘loser’ in school and a disappointment to his dad because he is inept at soccer,

unlike his older brother.
Maribel’s parents recently gave up everything to relocate from Mexico to a bleak, Delaware town, so that Maribel can attend a well-reputed special education school. Mayor’s family has lived in the United States for several years now and is acculturated to an American lifestyle where his mother, Celia, prepares sandwiches, with the crusts cut off, for the parishioners at their local church. Mayor’s family has become United States citizens. Living in the same apartment complex, a friendship is struck between these two immigrant families, and Maribel and Mayor find forbidden first-love.
Without giving too much away, let me just say that I was disappointed at the end of the story because a resolution was never clearly stated between the Maribel and Mayor relationship. I would have liked for the author to be precise in describing how Maribel and Mayor felt at the end of the story, and how their lives continued.
In order to give the reader the varying perspectives and experiences of numerous immigrants from Latin America, Henriquez juxtaposes between other voices as well. For example, she introduces the Puerto Rican woman, Micho, who comes to America to pursue her dream of becoming the next Rita Moreno, only to find that stardom is not in her sights. Micho opens up a theatre in the states, and successfully produces plays to hopefully lead other young people to find their dreams of acting on the stage. Micho is only one of a cast of characters who punctuate this novel without really telling their stories in depth. Perhaps the author chose to present these secondary stories to give the reader an all-inclusive perspective of the immigrant experience, but I felt that these short chapters detracted from my interest in the novel.
As I read ‘The Book of Unknown Americans,’ I could not help but feel profoundly empathetic to the despair one might feel as an immigrant in a strange land, speaking in a foreign language, living in poverty with surroundings completely unfamiliar. All of these people to me were heroes and heroines for etching out a life in their new homeland and finding their place in American society.

Show Less

LibraryThing member BookConcierge

The Rivera family enjoyed a happy life in Mexico, but after their 15-year-old daughter, Mirabel, was injured in an accident, they came to America in hopes of finding help for her recovery. Arriving in Delaware they meet the other residents of their apartment building – all from Spanish speaking

countries, but each with a unique story. The Toro family is from Panama, and their son, Mayor, forms a special friendship with Mirabel. Other apartment dwellers are from Puerto Rico, Guatemala or Nicaragua. They help one another navigate this new land, but their dreams are not so easy to achieve.

Henriquez uses a different narrator for each chapter, giving us insight into the various characters, who cling to their differences while sharing a similar immigrant experience. The novel focuses, however, on the two teenagers – Mirabel and Mayor – and their families. With these two families Henriquez shows us various love stories – first love, married love, parental love. We also see the kind of fierce devotion to a dream that can blind one to reality, and the pain of past experience that can make one cower in fright.

I was touched by Alma, Mirabel’s mother. She blamed herself for Mirabel’s accident and felt lost and frustrated by her inability to control everything in this new, foreign environment. I was also infuriated by her. Her stubborn refusal to confide in anyone only further isolated her and cut her off from some of the assistance that might have improved things for them.

In contrast, Mayor and Mirabel’s story is a lovely, innocent look and first love. And while I cringed at some of the things they did (reckless teenagers), I also loved how these two misfits, found acceptance and joy in just being together, and helped one another feel valued and less alone.

A couple of the building residents were less than likeable – the busybody gossip, for example. But on the whole I liked the way Henriquez revealed their varied backgrounds and common goals for a better life. I found myself so caught up in their dreams that I felt almost as stunned as the characters when tragedy knocks them to the pavement. But, while there cannot be a neat happy ending, Henriquez does give us hope. I’ll be thinking about Mirabel, Mayor, Alma, Arturo, Rafael, Celia and all the other “unknown Americans” for a long time.

Show Less

LibraryThing member CasualFriday

Arturo & Alma Riviera leave Mexico for Newark, Delaware to enroll their beautiful daughter Maribel in a special school after she is brain-damaged from a fall off a ladder. Arturo has a tiring and menial job. Alma, who does not speak English, puts most of her mental and emotional energy into

protecting Maribel, who after making friends with the son of Panamanian immigrants next door, starts coming out of her shell.

The book is short, simply written and quite affecting. The reader learns the many reasons that Latino families leave their homes for the United States, the challenges they meet when they get here, and how and why they sometimes become undocumented even if they initially have papers. But the novel does not descend into a Message; it is is still a story about individual families, with their misunderstandings, their guilt and their difficult choices.

Show Less

LibraryThing member voracious

This story is about a number of different immigrant families who end up living in the same apartment building in Burlington, Vermont. The main characters, Arturo, Alma, and their daughter, Maribel immigrate legally in search of a good school to rehabilitate their daughter, who sustained severe

brain damage from an accident in Mexico. Their neighbors become good friends with them, and their son, Mayor, falls in love with Maribel, despite their parents admonitions and best efforts to keep them apart. Their actions eventually lead to misunderstanding and tragedy for the families and their circle of friends.

This is an excellent novel about the hurdles and barriers faced by immigrants in the United States, as well as the bonds and goodness of people of all cultures. I enjoyed this story, told in alternating chapters by a number of the characters. This story-telling device worked well to draw in the perspectives of each of the individuals, which enriched the story and helped the reader better understand each of the characters.

Show Less

LibraryThing member viviennestrauss

I liked this book okay, it just didn't have any real depth to it. I didn't feel like I knew any of the characters well enough to care what happened to them. I don't feel it lived up to all the glowing blurbs, some by authors who I've read and really enjoyed.

Fewer