"Observant . a bighearted ensemble of a story. Set at a scrappy apartment complex in Delaware, The Book of Unknown Americans is a pan-Latino novel, with characters from Panama, Venezuela, Mexico and Puerto Rico, among other nations. In love and locked out of any reasonably cool social scene in high school, Mayor Toro and Maribel Rivera are the teens at the heart of the novel. Interspersed among their tentative, fumbling love story are chapters devoted to the back stories of the other residents of the complex. Henríquez covers the gamut of the immigrant experience: how they arrived in America, why they came, what they think of their new home, whether they miss their first home. In other words, she captures an experience at the heart of this country''s history that is often a cursory, incomplete story in the media . Poor and at the mercy of forces they do not entirely understand, her characters nonetheless experience victories that no one but their families and the fellow residents of their complex share.
''I hope this book can play a small role in maybe opening Americans a bit more to empathy,'' Henriquez says." --Claiborne Smith, Kirkus "Remarkable . the narrative of our two central families could easily sustain the novel, but Henríquez has taken it further. The Book of Unknown Americans gives voice to an entire society of people who struggle and work for the hope of better lives--but these lives don''t necessarily turn out as they may have dreamed. These people live days steeped in uncertainty and sometimes fear, and the sacrifices that are made in a move toward a better lot in life are huge. Henriquez opens the doors to this experience. Amid the grit and shadows, doubt and desperation, Henríquez finds beauty in community, in love, in family, in perseverance. And lucky us--we have the beauty, too, that is Henríquez''s writing.
" --Kristin Fritz, Everyday eBook "With eloquence, grace and, yes, sorrow, Henríquez creates an ensemble cast that speaks for millions of people who live among us but whose voices are rarely heard. This is a remarkable novel that every American should read." --Meganne Fabrega, Minneapolis Star Tribune "Enrapturing and heartbreaking . a stunning cross-cultural love story under the guise of a narrative about Latino families trying to make their way in America . Like a music master at the harp, Henriquez elegantly plays with human heart strings as she illustrates the complexities of the immigrant experience through the story of two families, as well as the company with whom they surround themselves." --Morgan Ribera, Bustle "The stories you hear about immigration are the ones that generate sensational headlines: sheriffs patrolling the border with shotguns, finger-pointing on Fox News, red-hot rhetoric in political campaigns across the country. But as Henríquez was reminded a few years ago, there are plenty of stories that are told rarely, if ever . At the center of The Book of Unknown Americans are Arturo and Alma Rivera, who have immigrated legally from Mexico to enroll their daughter in a special-needs school because she has suffered a brain injury.
When Mayor Toro, a young naturalized citizen originally from Panama, falls in love with her, the Rivera and Toro families become forever intertwined . The Riveras'' vulnerability increases [and] ultimately the story spins toward tragedy. Along the way, Henríquez allows the characters to speak for themselves . The politics of immigration, while never explicitly argued, remain subtly in play, as do more existential matters affecting immigrants, such as mixed national and cultural allegiances and affiliations between the generations . Henríquez''s most ambitious book yet." --Kevin Nance, Chicago Tribune "A novel told in many voices of Latin American people who come to this country and live in one apartment building in Delaware: a book about the love affairs and various things that go on--but it''s really about what it means to be an American, and what it means to have come here--what it cost them and what you get." --Sara Nelson, on CBS This Morning , Amazon''s "Must-Have Titles for Your Summer Reading List" "Henríquez''s best yet . The notion of home--where we make it, how we define it, and why we leave it--lies at the heart of The Book of Unknown Americans.
Gut-wrenching . " --Rachel Bertsche, Chicago Magazine "Poignant and profound . Beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful and enlightening. Each character in The Book of Unknown Americans tells their story of how they came to America. How much they wanted to become part of this wonderful country with so many opportunities . Little did they know that leaving Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Guatemala or Nicaragua, each with their own unique heritage, food, language and culture, they would all be lumped together as a group of immigrants that were not welcomed or wanted. [But] these strangers soon became friends, something of a newly established family . Candid, thoughtful .
This book had to be written. And needs to be read. A copy should show up on each politician''s desk, teacher''s desk, in each American citizen''s hands." --Marisa Robinson, The Daily Dosage "A novel crowded with characters as vivid as they are resilient--families and neighbors who have bravely chosen hope over fate. The Book of Unknown Americans begins with a vivid vision of promise. [But] Hollywood hopes sink like L.A. smog when Alma Rivera, her husband, Arturo, and their daughter wind up in a dingy apartment with found furniture, and Arturo, who owned a construction firm in Mexico, finds work as a mushroom picker.
The Riveras come seeking better care for their daughter, Maribel, but they find camaraderie and destiny in their apartment complex, which teems with other immigrant clans--such as the Panamanian Toro family, whose gawky son, Mayor, falls hard for Maribel. Their collective story is interlaced with tales of dreams deferred from the other tenants, [including] a Puerto Rican dancer who could well be a proxy for anyone from far away with an American-size appetite to dream." --Jennifer Arellano, Elle "A novel as disturbing as it is beautiful: a testament to the mixed blessings our country offers immigrants, who struggle against bigotry and economic hardship while maintaining just enough hope to keep striving for something better. A narrative mosaic that moves toward a heartrending conclusion." --Daniel A. Olivas, The Los Angeles Review of Books "Passionate . Henríquez imagines the sweet--and bitter--reality of coming to America, giv[ing] voice to the unheard stories of people who have quit their native countries for what they hope will be a better life. Alternating points of view bring to life nine families living in an apartment building in Delaware who have fled their birthplaces--dusty towns in Panama, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Paraguay--to begin anew in the States .
The Riveras arrive at dusk, unfolding themselves from the back of a red pickup truck after a days-long journey from Mexico. They are here legally, desperately hoping that an American school will restore their daughter, Maribel, who has suffered a traumatic brain injury, to the outgoing girl she used to be . The Toros offer their new neighbors friendship; their son, Mayor, is smitten with Maribel from the moment they meet. As the novel unfolds, the two share a tender love. Through her characters'' fears, their robust affection for one another, and their resilience, Henríquez illuminates the disparity between the lives they''ve given up and the benefits they''ve gained. For some, the struggle to find new identities as Americans yields rewards; for others, the transition is too difficult, and they return home the way they came: ''out of one world and into the next.''" --Abbe Wright, O, The Oprah Magazine "Henríquez borrows both the epic scope and the immediacy of oral history in The Book of Unknown Americans, taking readers inside the private anxieties of immigrants--strangers in a strange land. The final crashing together of all the [story''s] forces is devastating, as is the deftness with which Henriquez handles both the dramatic conclusion and the aftershocks.
(Yes, I cried.) The book''s structure contributes greatly to the emotional impact: Hearing the stories told in Alma''s and Mayor''s own voices brings us inextricably close to them. Dividing their tales is a chorus of voices in which other inhabitants of the building tell their stories. The effect is that of both bridge and ballast: the stories enrich the experience with their depictions of the delicate line between heartache and triumph. Henríquez is a world-class stylist." --Jonathan Messinger, Chicago Reader "On a cold, bewildering night, the Riveras, who have just left their happy lives in Mexico, are dropped off at a dilapidated apartment building [in] Delaware. Alma Rivera worries about their beautiful 15-year-old daughter, Maribel, who has suffered a brain injury; her parents have sacrificed everything to send her to a special school. Their building turns out to be a sanctuary; as the Riveras'' dramatic tale unfolds, Henríquez brings their generous neighbors forward to tell the compelling stories of why and how they left Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, and Paraguay.
As one man says, ''We are the unknown Americans,'' those who are feared and hated. As Maribel opens up to the infatuated boy next-door, terror of the unknown becomes a tragic force. Each scene, voice, misunderstanding, and alliance is beautifully realized and brimming with feeling in the acclaimed Henríquez''s compas.