The Book of Unknown Americans in Around the World

Jan 03, 2015 Suzanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, kindle, book-club-2016, geocaching-challenge-2016

I loved this heartbreaking tale of two star-crossed teenagers, who find each other in a low-income apartment block filled with immigrants like themselves. Maribel came on the back of a truck with her family from Mexico, in the hopes of a good school which would help Maribel overcome the mental disability she suffers as a result of a childhood accident. Mayor migrated from Panama, and lives in the shadow of his college-going, soccer star of an older brother. Both see something of value in the oth ...more

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Dec 04, 2019 Emily Goenner Munson rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club-ideas

A beautiful, multi-voiced story that deals with real people and real issues in a personal way--loved it.

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Oct 17, 2014 Kate Z rated it liked it

This was probably a 3.5 star book and my rating of it was highly influenced by the other books I read immediately before this one (Monstress and the middle grade novel Out of My Mind) which were both, in their own ways, about "unknown Americans" …. people who are "invisible" and/or marginalized in mainstream American culture. (I want to put "mainstream" in " " marks because really, what is "mainstream" but already this write up is feeling a bit air quote-ish)

This book is another interwoven stor ...more

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Jun 08, 2015 Renae rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-contemporary, read-in-2015

The Book of Unknown Americans is a tragedy from the mouths of immigrants. It’s a book about the American Dream and the various ways that dream can fall apart and die. At the center of the novel are two teenagers from Latin American families, but Cristina Henríquez includes other voices as well, and while there are absolutely high points and moments of happiness, the pervading tone I felt while reading was of disappointment and “making do” with poor situations.

I’ve just made this novel sound pret The Book of Unknown Americans is a tragedy from the mouths of immigrants. It’s a book about the American Dream and the various ways that dream can fall apart and die. At the center of the novel are two teenagers from Latin American families, but Cristina Henríquez includes other voices as well, and while there are absolutely high points and moments of happiness, the pervading tone I felt while reading was of disappointment and “making do” with poor situations.

I’ve just made this novel sound pretty grim, and while it is, there’s a lot of truth to this story. As a society, we tend to build up and mythologize the American Dream and how you can “be whatever you want” in the US—but that’s really only true up to a point. The Book of Unknown Americans sheds light on the less glamorous side of immigrant life, and it does so through the voices of the residents of the Delaware apartment complex the Riveras move to.

The Riveras, who come from Mexico to get specialized education for their mentally disabled daughter, Maribel, are at the center of the story. Alma Rivera is one of the book’s two primary narrators, trading off with Mayor, the teen boy who eventually befriends Maribel. Interspersed with Alma and Mayor’s perspectives are brief interludes when residents of the apartment complex, all immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries, tell their own stories.

On one hand, I really like that Henríquez took the opportunity to build a layered community and not focus only on the Riveras and their struggles. On other other hand, those interludes felt really…awkward. They were all formatted the same, basically: “My name is Felix and I was born in 1960 in El Salvador before I came to the US in 1983 and this and that”. Not a direct quote, but not an exaggeration, either. Still, those sections did help balance out the central conflict, which tended toward the theatrical.

Speaking of that main story—of Mayor and Maribel and forbidden love—I liked it, but it seemed overfamiliar and too easy. It wasn’t difficult for me to see Henríqez shuffling the characters into position for the final tragedy. Much of the plot felt far too unsubtly telegraphed in advance, and though it’s all well written, The Book of Unknown Americans wasn’t as impacting as it could have been, if only the plot had felt fresher and less overly tragic.

Not to sound too critical—there is a lot of good stuff happening in this book, and I really appreciate what Henríquez was doing with her subject matter. The Book of Unknown Americans has a great concept, and I loved that it gave a voice to the marginalized and also highlighted the diversity of their stories. However, it all felt like too much, since I wasn’t as emotionally invested as I would have liked to be. ...more

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Jun 18, 2025 Sue Kozlowski rated it really liked it

Shelves: poverty, high-school, racism, murder, coming-of-age, all-50-states, disabilities, death, immigration

I read this book because it was on the list of "Books to read from all 50 states". This book takes place in Delaware. The author's Dad grew up in Panama and came to the US for college. Her Mom grew up in Delaware.

This is a very topical story since US President Bush is currently sending out raids to send illegal immigrants out of the US. In this story, a couple and their daughter come to the US from Mexico. They do it legally, the dad being sponsored by a mushroom factory where he is employed. Th ...more

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May 08, 2015 Diane Nagatomo rated it really liked it

I would have given this book five stars, except I got kind of bored toward the end of the book and I don't think the story fell together well in the end. However, it was very interesting to read about the Latin-American immigration experience. ...more

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Dec 08, 2014 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015

i wanted to love this book. it is a topic very close to my heart. there were parts of it that i loved--especially the stand alone chapters about each person. i loved the lists that maribel kept. in the end though, i found so much of it tedious.

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