The New American

by Micheline Aharonian Marcom

The epic journey of a young Guatemalan American college student, a “dreamer,” who gets deported and decides to make his way back home to California.

One day, Emilio learns a shocking secret: he is undocumented. His parents, who emi­grated from Guatemala to California, had never told him.

Emilio slowly adjusts to his new normal. All is going well, he’s in his second year at UC Berkeley...then he gets into a car accident, and—without a driver’s license or any ID—the policeman on the scene reports him to Immi­gration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Once deported to Guatemala, Emilio is determined to get back to California, the only home he has ever known. It is an epic journey that takes him across thousands of miles and eventually the Sonoran Desert of the United States–Mexico border, meeting thieves and corrupt law enforcement but also kind strangers and new friends.

Inspired in part by interviews with Central American refugees, and told in lyrical prose, Micheline Aharonian Marcom weaves a heart-pounding and heartbreaking tale of adventure. The New American tells the story of one young man who risks so much to go home.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Novels, Audiobook, Adult, Race

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2020

About the author

Micheline Aharonian Marcom has written seven novels, including a trilogy of books about the Armenian genocide and its aftermath in the 20th century. She has received awards from the Lannan Foundation, the Whiting Foundation, and the US Artists’ Foundation. She was a 2022 finalist for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Marcom is the founder and Creative Director of The New American Story Project [NASP], a digital storytelling project exploring the forces of migration and the lives of new Americans newamericanstoryproject.org. She is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia.

Reviews

[Brandice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emilio is a college student, a Dreamer, living in California with his family and attending UC Berkeley. Unfortunately, he is a victim in a car accident with his friend, resulting in his deportation back to Guatemala. He is determined to return to California and reclaim his American life, the only one he has ever known.

The New American is the story of Emilio’s journey home. It is long, dangerous, and brutal — Not one I envy, and one that frankly, no one should have to experience. I admit to having limited knowledge on the topic of U.S. immigration, however, the harsh conditions and frequently hostile attitudes Emilio and his companions encountered, felt realistic.

Early on in his trek, Emilio meets a group traveling together, William, Jonatan, Pedro, and Matilde, who are hoping to make it to Arizona. As they continue, the group suffers from hunger, robbery and corruption, physical exhaustion and abuse, and obviously fear. With all of these treacherous elements at hand, do any of them make it? I felt for each of the characters in their struggles — How rough is life in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and elsewhere, to be willing to risk it all for a chance — not a guarantee — at a better one?

I had a hard time with the romantic interest in this story. It felt hasty, and somewhat inauthentic, though I recognize shared tragedy and a sense of urgency can bond people. I also didn’t care for the diversions into characters’ thoughts and I think, dreams or memories — These pieces, while short, were frequent and felt unnecessary to me. The New American for the most part, however, kept me engaged. I was eager to find out the result of Emilio and the rest of the group’s journey — 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once upon a time everyone was a new American. Nowadays the prevalent mentality has shifted too far to recognize or remember that fact. The eponymous protagonist is indeed a very new American, one of the Dreamers, whose family came over from Guatemala when he was just a kid. Most of his family is actually in the country legally, but because of how he came to be here with his father, he actually isn’t legal, the fact he wasn’t even aware of until he turned 16 and wanted to get a license. And so he speaks English without an accent, attends UC Berkeley, has a white American girlfriend and his life is on track until a random search gets him detained and then deported back to Guatemala. Determined to get back to his American life, he sets off to get back to US and so his nightmarish journey through hostile territories and hostile conditions begins. The author has done serious research on the subject, so it’s more than likely that the situations the characters of the book find themselves in are probably someone’s real life stories and they are all the more terrifying for it…theft, rape, beatings and more. All the things a person would subject themselves to for a chance of a new start in a more prosperous (however unwelcoming) country. Without a question, a very timely book. Seems like there’s a fair amount of immigrant stories right now on literary shelves. I’m actually surprised to be the first person reviewing this, seems like it should be read more. Or maybe it’s just too sad. Emotionally the journey in the book is absolutely devasting, straight down to the gut punch of an ending. Glad I read it, a well written book with a compelling protagonist that makes you think and emotionally engage is always a great find. First, something worth mentioning, someone especially jarring and disturbing is the attitude of Mexicans toward the migrants from the South. So much has been made in the news of the US attitude toward the situation, but it seems that (at least according to this book) Mexico is just as hostile and unwelcoming to these people, despite a shared language and such. There are questions too…how does someone without any legal papers get to attend college? On a scholarship no less. What are the logistics there? Also, probably a more incendiary one…but one of the themes in the book is that citizenship is an almost roulette like matter, some get born into first world, some into third. A chance thing. And those born into third are aware of how terrible their circumstances are, how terrible life in their countries is…it’s terrible enough to risk horrific dangers just to get out of and yet they continue (quite enthusiastically) to bring more lives into this sort of life. And yes, I understand that safe sex, abortions and so on are much tougher in the developing countries (and possibly soon in the US), but still…there are ways. And yet…our protagonist’s love interest at just 22 already has 2 kids. She’s perfectly aware of the kind of life she was leading in her native country, of the world surrounding her and thought…well, why not bring some kids into this? Really? So that now she can leave these kids and risk her life trying to get to a country seems to vehemently (or so the news tells us) not want her, a country whose language she doesn’t speak, where she will have no rights or legal protection, hoping to secure some menial low paying job to send some money back to her kids. It’s admirable in a way, but also probably doesn’t win anyone with antiimmigrant ideas over to her side of the argument. But at any rate, the situation is much more complex than the individual stories comprising it. Central America has become a war zone, it should warrant political asylums being granted. In a different world, it seems. In this one there are books, smart, sad, politically correct books that ought to be read if only to exercise some compassion muscles. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

[Christine Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily the saddest and hardest book I have ever read.

I would encourage anyone to read this and gain a new perspective on the immigration crisis.

[Abra Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced and a quick read. I liked the book about a young man who gets deported from the US to Honduras and tries to make his way back to the US. He joins another group of 4 and they try to stick together. They encounter bandits, thieves, good samaritans, and all manner of roadblocks that hamper their journey. The book is very similar to American Dirt from Jeanine Cummins. The plight of immigrants is portrayed in a compassionate manner and at the same time, the book highlights the many good people who also help them along the way.

[Tuti Fruti · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can tell by my profile, I don't write reviews regularly, but this book...oh this book.
If you want to gain hope on the human race and have it stepped on with the most evil strength and gain hope again and stepped on again...back and forth forever, read this book!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read this story I was totally immersed in the story and in the journey of these characters. I cried, I was angry, and I had some small hope in humanity. We each face the question of who do we want to be in our time on this earth and I highly recommend this book. As some others have mentioned it’s not by a LatinX writer but I felt the author had a deep and real understanding about how and why people become migrants and the cost they pay.

[Jenn Auvil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book, even with all of its dark and gritty reality and so much sadness. It was hard to read at time because the author tells such a realistic and gripping story of characters that you grow to really love. But I was really disappointed in the ending.

[Samuel Spaulding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very intense and sad at times, the journey they made felt impossible. Unfortunately, the horrors they faced are all too real for so many trying to seek a better life and made me feel grateful for what I have.

[Sydney Rico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad that this book tells a story of migrants from Central America. I wish that Ahronian Marcom would have included sections from the perspective of Matilde.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New American a novel opened my eyes to the hardships refugees encounter when migrating to the United States. It is raw and gritty certainly not a read for everyone but a read for those that want to understand the immense desire refugees have to make it to America. I listened to the audio read by Timothy Andres Pabon. Just when it seemed the refugees could not go on, they do. As much bad there is in this world there is good and I must believe good prevails.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was absolutely heartbroken by the struggles immigrants survive the outside.. well written .. all high school students should read

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is similar to one or two other books I've read about migrants from the south, the exxtreme hazards and hardships that they face, against the hopes and dreams they nevertheless hold onto. This one has some odd phraseology that distracted me a bit; I'm not sure whether the language used was deliberately awkward or not. The plot is unrelentingly daunting, but the characters and their generosity to each other are appealing. Be sure to read to "The End."

[JoAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this novel by chance, sifting through the remainder books stacked on a Dollar Tree shelf. (Now a dollar TWENTY-FIVE tree due to Covid-19 caused inflation. Still, a steal.) I was searching for scavenger hunt rewards for my Summer class. The title caught my eye and as I picked it up I wondered if I would regret it. In these increasingly divisive days, the word “American” conjures a dark and paranoid shadow, a hidden figure that vaguely appears to be toting a gun. It is a hateful individual with movements that jerk unpredictably, violently. I could not help but take a pause to wonder at my assumptions: Who is the New American? I am one, but I don’t recognize the person in my vision. Who would Aharonian Marcom’s American be? Hopefully they are not merely a rehashed version of the old American. Never buy a book without reading the front and back flaps. My hope was vindicated. “Dreamer”, “Migrant”, the synopsis told me. I bought two copies. One for myself, one for a scavenger-hunt-winning student.

Aharonian Marcom’s The New American did not disappoint. It seized me and would not let go until I finished it. I wanted to finish it. I had to. The New American is a novel of our moment, the turn of the 21st century. It is unashamed and bold in its title; the novel captures the determination of the human spirit and the suffering of being an American. The latter is inextricable from the former. As an immigrant myself, I saw parts of my own experience in the novel, though my own journey was far less deadly, far less bloody.

The plot is straightforward, a clever ruse for a very complicated discussion of identity, belonging, desire, and survival. The story begins and ends with Emilio, a DREAMER who grew up in California, became a student at UC Berkeley, and then was deported when authorities outside the university sanctuary city boundaries discovered he was undocumented. Emilio is deported to Guatemala, stuck in a legal limbo he cannot see a way out of. He decides — with the typical brashness and fearlessness and naïveté of a college kid — to find a way back to the United States and his former life. His journey takes him through Mexico and the Sonoran Desert. On the way he meets and befriends other migrants: Matilde, Pedro, Jonatan and others. The story follows their feet as they walk miles upon miles upon miles to the deadly trains that carry them across Mexico, follows their feet as they suffer through the heat and aridity of the Sonoran Desert.

The characters seem simple at first, but they are facsimiles of real individuals and as such, the reader will find them complex, confusing, irrational. They are not guided solely by emotion or by avarice or by ambition or by necessity. They are driven by a combination of those things and more. Aharonian Marcom’s prose is succinct but powerful; Milo and Mati are visible to the reader, the pain in their hearts is within reach of their fingers. You could almost detect the odor of their sweat as you read, but then you realize it’s your own because you’re so tense and concerned about what will happen to these young migrants. You know this is a not a love story, that there is no happy ending guaranteed.

The New American‘s back flap told me about Aharonian Marcom and helped seal my desire to read this. They are a professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia, a founder and Creative Director of The New American Story Project [NASP], which hosts the website, New American Story. Aharonian Marcom’s research and professional engagements inform the content of the novel, fiction as it is.

I could not help but be reminded of a book I’d read a long time ago, which had changed me: Rubén Martinez’s Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail (2013). This was in my own undergraduate days, when I had just begun questioning for myself what it meant to be an American. Aharonian Marcom’s novel reads as the updated version: more YA-oriented, more college freshmen friendly, with a deeper interiority than Martinez’s. Both are wonderful; Martinez’s book still echoes. Almost a decade after it came out, it remains relevant. While there are so many books in the same vein out there now than there were before, it and The New American still have much work to do to bring stories of our humanity — in its glory and deadliness — to new readers. All of them are worth reading, including The New American.

[JoAnne Tompkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Emilio, a Dreamer and student at UC Berkeley, is deported to Guatemala, he decides to risk everything to make the crossing back to the only home he has ever known. In taut, gorgeous prose, Marcom brings us along on this harrowing journey. I felt I was living this ordeal with Emilio and his new love, Matilde, my throat parched, my feet swollen, each moment full of hope and horror. Yet for all the cruelties and violence and desperation, there is beauty and kindness and love. Every page of THE NEW AMERICAN is terribly alive. Everything is all of a piece. And, by the end, Marcom achieves the miraculous, lifting and expanding our hearts. This is a beautiful and important book.

[Mallory]

Emilio’s journey seems to be hardship after hardship, and the physical and emotional trauma that he and his friends endure is relentless. Throughout their journey, they encounter the violence of the cartel, the exhausting heat and rain, starvation, abuse, sickness, and heat death, and despite it all, keep pushing forward because what they leave behind is worse than what lies ahead. Marcom, however, offers small moments of relief from these tragedies through her descriptions of the solidarity between the migrants. Food is passed around, burdens are shared, friendships are formed, romance blooms, and stories are gathered and told. These small victories ease the horrors that weather the spirits of the migrants, and those of the reader as well.
At times, the way Marcom tells the story unravels the power of its contents. The book is told in the third person, but Emilio is the central character, and we follow his inner thoughts and feelings. There were certain parts, however, where the narration would drift away from Emilio and enter another character’s head, and I felt that these moments were unnatural and drew me out of the story. I also thought the ending was a little contrived, as I’m not a fan of the “maybe I’ll write a book/make a movie about this one day” trope, and thought it took away from the understated strength of the ending.
If you haven't read anything about the Central American migrant experience, however, this book would be a good place to start. I also highly recommend The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy my journey through this book one bit. My library chose it as the community read for the year, so I forced myself through the entire thing. It used several tropes I dislike, including "sex with the right guy magically heals trauma from past sexual assault." The best that can be said of it is at least the prose is readable, not too plodding or flowery.
The main character is impulsive to an annoying degree. The plot is predictable--unsurprisingly, the journey from Guatemala to the U.S.-Mexico border is terrible and full of danger. There is some kindness to be found as well, but a lot of harm is done from trusting the wrong people and there are many people waiting to take advantage of the flow of poor, naïve migrants fleeing violence and political unrest in their own countries. I wonder, though, since this book is not an #ownvoices read and it is taken from a conglomeration of many narratives, how likely it is that all of these troubles would happen to one person making this journey, and how much is an amalgamation for dramatic purposes.
And then, as a last kick in the teeth, this book has the audacity to pull an "it was all a dream and they were dead," a trope I hate because it makes everything that came before seem pointless. The ending where they made it to California and started a new life was fake and they actually died crossing the desert. What. the. actual. heck. I almost threw it against the wall when I got to that part.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard book to read. This story of migrants making their way to the United States seeking safety and a better life is heartbreaking. I do love a happy ending, and this book provides that--that is, until you read the final two pages which report the deaths of three migrants. I then had to rethink everything I thought I knew about this story. One thing that hadn't rung true to me was that Mathilde, who was brutally gang raped early in the novel later falls in love with the main character, Emilio and starts a physical relationship with him. The physical and mental trauma of such a rape would take a very long time to recover from. And, then the happy ending--that also seemed very trite, in retrospect. The nice old man who saved them from the brink of death, the happy reunion with family, a baby on the way...all of this just seems too good to be true. So, I revised my entire perception of what actually happened. I think that most of it was just the yearnings of Emilio, perhaps in the form of his fantastical journal entries, and that none of the happy things really happened. He imagined the relationship with Mathilde and his happy return home. But the reality was that they all died of exposure in the desert.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without really intending to, I checked out two books about basically the same journey - someone who had lived in the U.S. for many years and has been deported, and who is trying to make his way back. (The other was Do They Know I'm Running, by David Corbett.) Compared to that book, this is so much less vivid and detailed that it was hard to get into. It was full of awkward sentences like "Emilio opens the Coke and takes a long sip of the sweet carbonated beverage and decides to eat his sandwich later" and "We arrived in Oakland twenty-nine days after I left Todos Santos, the same amount of time it takes our satellite to complete its orbit around the earth." Plus short italicized chapters where you can't figure out who is narrating. I appreciated that this was a more typical journey than the other book (which involved human trafficking and an FBI setup), but there was very little character development, and Emilio really annoyed me. He's so fixated on Mathilde, mainly for her beauty, despite having a girlfriend at home already, and he decides he is her protector, even though she is already traveling with three men, whom of course he doesn't spend much time getting to know.

[Emily Nicoletta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The New American was one of the most mentally and emotionally taxing stories I have ever read - not in a bad way by any means, but also not in a good way. More so in a heartbreaking, painful, gut punch kind of way…

This book is eye opening, following the trauma and horrifying risks immigrants must take to make it to safety and security. I think the reason this book was so difficult for me to get through is because it is really not a unique story - many of those who risk their lives immigrating to the United States from Central America face a great deal of trauma throughout their journey. It is absolutely heartbreaking to me that so many people simply seeking a better life for themselves and their families are treated with such malice and hostility. It shouldn’t be like this… and this very detailed reminder is hard to stomach.

The only big thing that I disliked about The New American was the narrative style. Emilio is a college-aged Dreamer who grew up in the US, but for some reason his way of speaking was so odd - very overly formal and almost robotic. This formality made all of his interactions feel surface level and disconnected. It was very odd.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moments and images of stark terror in this novel- the undergarments hanging as a trophy from
a tree, the kidnapping and dismemberment of Jonatan who is traveling to the border, rampant police cruelty and corruption.

You travel with these determined young adults and sense their perhaps foolish hopefulness underpinning the enormous deprivations and frightening people and events they experience.

My one qualm was with the depiction of Matilde who very quickly becomes romantically involved with college student Emilio after she is brutally raped. You sense her sorrow, all the tragedy she has experienced but the rapidness of her involvement with Emilio felt inauthentic.

She is a good writer, but perhaps not best suited to the young adult genre.

Listened to this as an audiobook. Tim Pabon gave a thoughtful, heartfelt performance.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't decide if I liked this book or "really" liked it. 3.5 stars.

Well written and terribly dispiriting. What can be done for these people, especially the people in Honduras, where criminals and gangs run the country? And Mexico!! Absolutely disgraceful and horrific how gangs of Mexicans--including police--abuse the migrants, rape and beat them, steal their money, demand ransom from their families, kill them casually.

One section I really did not like was the scene where Mathilde and Emilio have sex for the first time. The scene went on far too long; much too much detail; really a distraction. OK, we got it. Totally gratuitous, in my opinion.

I am going to be attending book discussion with the author in a few weeks. Eager to hear her comments. Especially interested in how she did her research.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

So my review is bound to be controversial. The book American Dirt came out about six months before this one and was met with contempt because the author wasn’t ethnic enough to write with authority. Maybe this one checks all the boxes but I found it held my attention far less while telling the exact same story. I felt that the author was narrating a beautifully visual movie that has very little action to a blind person. The author is clearly a wordsmith who loves descriptors. The plot was tragic in many regards but the story was basic as probably one can expect about illegal immigrants trying to get into the US. Hardship, hardship, hardship. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful and painful, this is the story of Emilio, an undocumented 21 year old college student who finds himself deported to the Guatemala he does not know. This has, sadly, been a very real situation. Emilio decides to try to get back to the US and this is his journey. It's a dark and dangerous trip, with the potential for death at every corner, especially in the desert. It's not an enjoyable or light read but it's enlightening. I'm curious how this will be received in the wake of the American Dirt situation. Both novels have an important message and should be read with an open mind. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

[Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an important topic to write about so people who don't enjoy nonfiction can get some basic understanding as to the basis for Central American migration to the US and all the obstacles faced along the way. However, because this is fiction I can't say I enjoyed the book simply because it lacked character development. Especially given that this came out the same year as "American Dirt" which tells a very similar story about the turmoils of traveling though Mexico to reach the border and then the additional step of making it out of the desert alive. Comparing the two, this book didn't make the necessary emotional connection between reader and protagonist.

[Molly Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time, perhaps forever. I cannot find the words to describe how unfair, cruel and inhumane the plights of our US "dreamers" are. Nor can I find the words to describe the desperate lives of emigrants trying to escape the daily violence that threatens their lives in Central America. And what they all must endure trying to get across the border. This book is a wake up call and I'm glad that it is part of my local library's "One Book One Community" program this year. I hope everyone is reading it, taking it to heart and learning from it.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping, wrenching saga of migration. The protagonist is Emilio, a "dreamer" and Cal student deported in 2012 from his home in Berkeley back to Guatemala, a country he doesn't know. On his attempted journey back home, Emilio befriends a group of four Hondurans fleeing the lawless violence of their country. Emilio and his companions endure horrible brutality and privation on their journey through Mexico and into Arizona. The language is beautiful but restrained, showing the horror of what the migrants suffer and the urgency of their trek without wallowing in their misery.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastatingly beautiful - the writing has a poetic flow - interspersed with the protagonist’s dreams and memories.
The story of Emilio’s deportation from and return to the United States grips you from the first page, and then ends in such gut wrenching heart break I needed time to reflect and grasp what I’d just read.
This fictional account sheds a new and important light on the danger and risks of attempting the journey to the US border, and the reasons desperate refugees would try.
Must read for those looking to gain perspective

[Claire Osgood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best novels I have read in the last year. It portrays in graphic detail the harrowing experiences that illegal migrants face. This includes bad acting from cartels, Mexican police, local citizens, and people smugglers. There were several tales in the book that were so upsetting that I had to stop reading for the day. Few novels cause me to think about them when I am otherwise engaged. This one often did, though. A must read for those opposing illegal immigration, but seeking a fiction approach that vividly presents the most sordid aspects of these travellers.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the backstory of this book, that the author collected stories from migrants and then crafted this novel. The brutality and the beauty of the stories are as vivid as they are heartbreaking. However, this is why I have a hard time giving it 5 stars. While I felt connected to the characters, I wasn’t sure if it was because I expected the violence and heartbreak, or because I enjoyed the storytelling.

If you want change, this book will certainly point you in the right direction, just don’t expect to feel good about the journey.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was chosen by the Williamsburg Regional Library and the College of William and Mary library as the community read for 2023. I might not have read it otherwise, as it broke my heart. Yes, I knew that the journey from Central America to the US was perilous, but seeing those words on the page brought out the dangers, the cruelty, and the hopefulness. Although this is a work of fiction, the situations are all too real for so many people who find intolerable and dangerous situations in their homelands.