The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources -- because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples.

 

 

-- Lyndon B. Johnson

 

(Chapter 3 quote)

Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1539810/post

It was my father who taught us that an immigrant must work twice as hard as anybody else, that he must never give up.

 

 

--Zinedine Zidane

 

(Chapter 2 Quote)

Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1539808/post

Dream Things True

Review:

 

Alma thought back to the day she learned that she wasn’t in status – that she was a person who was here but not welcome, embedded in this place, but also somehow apart from it.

 

None of it mattered. None of it mattered because she was, as she had always known, one of the kids stuck in between.

 

 

Alma is a junior in high school, brilliant, with a bright future, but her family is undocumented and the threat of ICE is always looming. Alma wants to tell her new boyfriend, Evan, but she is ashamed, and his uncle is pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigrants.

 

I read this book for my multicultural lit class. Alma is a feisty girl and I like her. Her life is difficult, but she has a large community supporting her. Alma’s parents just wanted to give her and her brother a better life, and they took a big chance by coming to the United States. This a good example of perseverance in a difficult situation. And the ending wasn't oversimplified.

 

This is a good book for teens to read. It may help them sympathize with the plight of illegal immigrants. Also, teens will see that the characters are just like them and experience similar feelings. I read three books on this issue for an essay I did for class. In all three books, the main characters dealt with shame and feelings of not belonging anywhere. 

 

A good multicultural book for anyone to read, especially now.

Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1539804/dream-things-true

The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than people born here.

 

 

- Chuck Palahniuk, Choke

 

Found in Something in Between, along with many other immigrant-related quotes

Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1539452/post

Another annoying narrator...

Review:

 

Just meh....

 

The story was ok. A young girl and her twin sister experience and trauma and decide not to tell anyone. Thirty years later, the still living sister is confronted by reminders of the event. Is the monster coming back?

 

I found the story a bit boring and predictable. There were moments that I liked, but not enough to make the book exciting.

 

This is the second audiobook that I feel was hurt by the narrator. For some reason, the voice sounded almost computerized. It wasn't, but some of the words were so stilted that I had to check to be sure. She definitely portrayed emotion, but every time she said the word, "cabriolet" (as in the Volkswagen car), it sounded very strange. Maybe I'm just being picky, or (more likely) I have been spoiled after listening to Kate Mulgrew perform two Joe Hill books brilliantly. Oh well, her performances are amazing and so worth it.

Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1537005/another-annoying-narrator