I'd rate this 3.5 stars.Arturo and Alma Rivera lived a happy life in Mexico until their beautiful teenage daughter, Maribel, sustains a serious injury in an accident. Unsure if she'll ever be the same again, they migrate to the United StatesDelaware, specificallywhere Maribel will be able to attend a special school and hopefully begin to recover some semblance of normalcy. But America is difficult for the Riverasthe job Arturo secures to sponsor their journey to America is brutal, Maribel doesn't seem to be making much progress in school, and Alma struggles with English, and trying to become acclimated to a different life."Because a place can do many things against you, and if it's your home or if it was your home at one time, you still love it. That's how it works."The one bright spot is that the Riveras meet Celia and Rafael Toro, who came to the U.S. years ago to escape the destruction and violence in Panama. The Toros are more settled into their American lives, although Celia in particular longs to return home, at least for a visit. And when their teenage son, Mayor, who struggles with self-confidence in the shadow of his more athletic, popular older brother, sets eyes on Maribel for the first time, he finds himself completely in her thrall, and wants nothing more to spend time with her, despite what others perceive as her challenges.As the relationship between the Riveras and the Toros grows stronger, it is testedas are relationships within each familyby secrets, incorrect assumptions, fears, longing, and struggles. And a number of incidents occur which set in motion a chain of events which will affect each member of both families in vastly different ways.Cristina Henriquez's The Book of Unknown Americans gives a powerful and moving glimpse into the immigrant experience for many Latin American people. In addition to telling the story of the Rivera and Toro families, the plot is interwoven with brief testimonials from other neighbors, each of whom came from a different Latin American country and experienced different struggles and happinesses upon arriving in America. This is a book that makes you think a little bit more about the challenges and barriers people often deal with when coming to America, even legally.I thought this was a very captivating read, and Henriquez is an excellent storyteller. While some of her characters may seem familiar, I thought she imbued them with interesting characteristics and quirks that made them more complex. I read this book very quickly, and found it an emotionally rich story I'm still thinking about.

This is partly the story of two teenage lovers. It is also a story about families: what they do to and for each other. And lastly this is the story of immigrants making their home in a new place, one where they're often rejected no matter how hard they try to fit in or how good they are as people.There were moments of lyrical beauty and times when the writing soared but for the most part the writing was easy to read but not exceptional.However, I felt that I drew close to the characters and came to care deeply about what happened to them. The plot felt predictable but somehow worked for me. I think it was the plight of the people struggling to make a new life for themselves despite a sagging economy and racism as well as the portrayal of family that really hooked me.I would give this a 3.5, if I could. It's a lovely book.

What struck me most about this novel is the structure whose purpose becomes clear with the last chapter. It is quite interesting and poignant. This novel is a reminder of how everyone who comes to the United States brings a complicated storyw ith them. In The Book of Unknown Americans, immigrants from México, Venezuela, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, etc. live in an apartment complex in Delaware. Though they come from all over the Spanish speaking world, they have more in common than they do not and they form a community--something of a home away from home. Arturo and Alma Rivera have moved from Mexico so their daughter, Mirabel, who suffered an accident on Arturo's construction site, can get the help she needs.As Arturo and Alma try to make sense of their new life, while keeping an unbearably close eye on their daughter, Maribel is befriended by Mayor Toro who lives with his parents in the complex. Maribel remarks, as their friendship deepens, that Mayor is the only one who sees her and believes she can do anything. Henriquez chronicles their friendship and budding romance with real tenderness and makes it seem like anything is possible with young love.There are parts of the novel I wish were more fully fleshed out. Interspersed with the main story are testimonials from other residents in the apartment complex and I wanted to know more of their lives. I wanted them to have a more significant role in the story because they were so vividly drawn.A lovely book, though.

Maribel Rivera is a normal teenaged girl in Patzcuaro, Mexico when one day she goes with her mother to her father's work site and suffers a traumatic brain injury. No longer the prize of Patzcuaro, Maribel retreats into a shell, suffers headaches, and can not complete even the most basic school work. Her parents Alma and Arturo Rivera would do anything for their daughter, look up schools for special needs children in the United States, and leave the only life they knew behind and move to Wilmington, Delaware so Maribel can attend Evers School. Alma and Arturo have a tough time adjusting to life as immigrants, the primary barrier that they have difficulties learning English. One of the reasons why they do not speak English is that they moved to the Kirkwood Apartments managed by Fito Angelino and all the tenants in the building are Hispanic. Not surprisingly, the primary language of communication is Spanish because it gives the immigrants a safety net where they can be themselves as opposed to the lower class people they now are in the world at large. The first friends the Riveras meet are the Toro family, who live in the same building. Henriquez tells half the chapters from the point of view of Alma and the other half from the point of view of Mayor Toro, a boy the same age as Maribel who falls for her immediately. While Alma is expectantly overprotective of Maribel, Mayor gets her to communicate and becomes the only person who understands her. As the friendship develops, so does the relationship between the Rivera and Toro families. Interspersed in the novel are testimonials from all the immigrant residents of the Kirkwood Apartments where the Rivera and Toro families live. All of these people came to the United States seeking a better way of life, and even though they might not have gained the life they originally sought out, for the most part the immigrants are happy they came. The primary example is the Toro family who fled Panama during Noriega's regime and has been living in Delaware for 15 years. The father Rafael works as a line cook in a restaurant, the family becomes US citizens, the older son Enrique receives a soccer scholarship to the University of Maryland, and the family buys a car. They feel that even though Panama has gotten better, they would not have had the same opportunities there as they would have had living in the United States. This sentiment is shared by the other people in their building, the Riveras included. The people in this book are the Unknown Americans- a photographer, a small business owner, an army vet, a line cook, parents seeking better lives for themselves and their children. Over the course of the book even Maribel improves in both her school work and long term outlook on life while Alma with the help of Celia Rivera learns rudimentary English. Henriquez paints the United States as still being the land of opportunity for legal immigrants in a post September 11 America. Of course there are still those white supremacists who wish all the immigrants regardless of status would go back where they come from. Henriquez touches on this as a subplot in the novel with the character of Garrett Miller. At first it appeared that he only desired to bully Maribel and Mayor but his character goes much deeper than that. Despite people like the Millers, however, the immigrants in this book appear to enjoy their day to day life as Americans. I found The Book of Unknown Americans to be from a unique viewpoint. Rather than simply telling a coming of age story of Maribel, Henriquez weaves together the story of many immigrants' experiences. I enjoyed the story of the Riveras and the Toros as well as the other people in the building. I would recommend this to people looking for a short yet poignant read.

One of the things that initially drew me to this book is that it takes place in my hometown of Newark, Delaware. Throughout I enjoyed references to local landmarks such as Bings Bakery and Newark Newsstand. However, as Henriquez gently revealed the characters' struggles and hearts, I forgot about the setting and became absorbed with the narrative. There were a couple things that set this book apart from most I've read about the immigrant experience. Arturo, Alma and Maribel, one of the families at the center of the story, did not leave Mexico looking for a better life. They had a comfortable life in Mexico which they left only because they wanted a specialized school for their 15 year old daughter Maribel, who had suffered a brain injury when she fell off of a ladder. Arturo did whatever he could to support his family but had a tough time fitting into a new culture where he did not know the 'rules'. From pulling mushrooms in the dark for ten hours a day to navigating grocery stores, life was a daily struggle. It was this family that was by far the most engaging to me.Also living in the apartment building ("cinder block hive")were the Toros from Panama. Celia, the mother, befriends Alma and introduces her to Coca-Cola among other things. Mayor, her son, falls in love with Maribel which leads to both tender scenes and some hair-raising ones which I won't spoil.Other families share their stories briefly to broaden the reader's perspective. For me, less would have been more. Just let me enjoy getting to know the two main families and don't bother a bit trying to round out my perspective. Other books can do that.I also felt that Maribel learned very quickly how to process a joke, comprehend text, follow prompts, and focus for longer time periods. I too have a mild traumatic brain injury and I find it unlikely, even with her youth on her side, that she could have relearned so much so quickly and with so little frustration. In my experience, cognitively disordered brains struggle and stumble and hiccup, never again taking memory or previously learned knowledge for granted. Perhaps, I'm trying to make my experience universal which is just as ridiculous as thinking that each immigrant's experience is similar. All in all, I enjoyed the writing and storyline and was absorbed in the book. I spent time thinking about the people I encounter who might feel invisible, unknown, unappreciated. Sometimes it's just a smile that makes a difference in someone's day. Arturo says toward the end of the book, "People do what they have to in this life. We try to get from one end of it to the other with dignity and with honor. We do the best we can."That pretty much sums up the book and life for me.