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4.58 AVERAGE
4.58 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Well written book that showcases the reality of many undocumented immigrants. I enjoyed the well weaved factual information with Aida’s story. The book wasn’t too hard to understand, regardless if you have a background understanding of immigration policies. I enjoyed the way that we got to learn about other individuals in Aida’s life as well. Overall, this book was informative and gave readers a small glimpse of what undocumented immigrants, specifically women who experienced abuse/violence, face while undergoing the immigration system.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia
informative
medium-paced
The death and life of Aida is a work of what is wrong with our boarder today. Aida is a real person who grew up in Douglas AZ, but was born across the boarder in Agua Prieta, she's illegal. This is not only her story, but is also a history of how our southern boarder got militarized. This is also an indictment of how the GOP turned boarder security into a dog whistle agenda item. The boarder was militarized to keep Republicans in power in Arizona. Today, the boarder is a money make for private prisons, huge build up of ICE and other boarder enforcement organizations, and drug cartels. Every body is making huge profits off the boarder and the results are terrible for the people trying to find a better life. If you are interested in boarder issues and cant stand the GOP dog whistle BS this book is for you. I do have one suggestion for slowing immigration, arrest and charge the CEO's of Pilgrims Pride, the Purdue family, Jimmy Dean sausage and the rest of the U.S. food industry that use illegals as labor to fill the jobs Americans don't want. I say this a a former teacher in Waco TX who's students talked about their Uncles who were illegal and worked for Pi;grams Pride packing plant. Out of the mouths of babes comes truth and it's a truth that 99% of GOP White America will find at best distasteful and at worst will make them loose a bunch of sleep from their soul searching, as will reading this book.
This is such a human story, yet it manages to illuminate so many complex and systemic policy issues related to immigration, the militarization of the border (and its commercialization), violence against women and domestic abuse, PTSD, poverty, detention, and more. It is measured, the lives portrayed and upended are complicated and not reducible to good/bad. Wasn’t sure if I’d have the stomach for this after swimming in these waters work-wise for so long - but it really is good, and especially given the myopic cruelties of this administration, it’s a book I expect to be recommending often.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
A bit of preface to my review. Something I have noticed in (Goodreads esp) when reading reviews on books about brown people struggling is that, to me, it seems some [white] people rate the books higher than they truly evaluated the book because they are concerned to be perceived racist which is annoying and can muddle overall ratings of books.
Anyways all that to say while I enjoyed the overall story, the fact checking (or so the author claims), and the messy nature of human life in border towns, I think there were portions of the book that felt jarring/choppy while others felt unnecessarily long and drew me out of the story. The author's use of one woman's unfinished life story to speak as a larger call to action about increasing the general population's knowledge of border conditions faded too much in trying to make this read like a novel and less nonfiction/memoir and it could have used a bit more refinement in my opinion.
I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in learning more of the tragic real life accounts of US border control and how tricky it gets for the US government when trying to control the lives of immigrants while still earning a quick (million) bucks off their trauma, but it's not one I necessarily will read again.
Anyways all that to say while I enjoyed the overall story, the fact checking (or so the author claims), and the messy nature of human life in border towns, I think there were portions of the book that felt jarring/choppy while others felt unnecessarily long and drew me out of the story. The author's use of one woman's unfinished life story to speak as a larger call to action about increasing the general population's knowledge of border conditions faded too much in trying to make this read like a novel and less nonfiction/memoir and it could have used a bit more refinement in my opinion.
I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in learning more of the tragic real life accounts of US border control and how tricky it gets for the US government when trying to control the lives of immigrants while still earning a quick (million) bucks off their trauma, but it's not one I necessarily will read again.
The House on Mango Street changed Aida Hernandez's life. In her darkest hours, she remembered the words of hope: "I have gone a long way to come back."
Aida wanted to dance. She wanted to finish high school and go to college. She wanted to become a therapist. She wanted to give her son a good home. She wanted to love and be loved. Her hopes were just like yours and mine.
But Aida's life held more horrors than any one body should be able to endure. She had survived even death but suffered from crippling CPTSD--Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She came from a legacy of abuse but a knife attack tipped her over the edge. It only took one mistake, a $6 mistake, to remove Aida from her son and family, locked up for months in a women's prison. They were not given tampons, or enough toilet paper, or adequate wholesome food. There were not enough beds or blankets to keep warm.
And that is when Aida saw The House on Mango Street on the prison library shelf and it started her reclamation and a life of helping the other women with her.
Aaron Bobrow-Strain's book The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez brings to life unforgettable women, and through their stories, explores the failure of Prevention Through Deterrence which posits that if the journey is horrific enough people will not come. Women suffer the most in this system.
He shows how American economic and political policies and the desire for cheap labor created the influx of illegal immigrants.
Immigrants in detention centers are treated like hardened criminals with shackles, solitary confinement, lack of medical care, meager inedible food, and a scarcity of hygiene supplies. They have no legal rights. They are provided no legal counsel. Border Patrol and detention centers have created jobs and business--paid for by the government.
Who are the people seeking refuge in America? What drives them from their homeland? What options are available for legal immigration? What happens to those who are apprehended? This book will answer all your questions. But you may not like the answers.
Justice. How many times have we forgotten this value?
The proceeds from this book will be shared between Aida Hernandez, the Chiricahua Community Health Centers to support emergency services for people dealing with domestic violence or sexual assault, and the author to offset costs of writing the book. Which for me means an instant add to my "to buy" list.
I thank the publisher who provided a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Aida wanted to dance. She wanted to finish high school and go to college. She wanted to become a therapist. She wanted to give her son a good home. She wanted to love and be loved. Her hopes were just like yours and mine.
But Aida's life held more horrors than any one body should be able to endure. She had survived even death but suffered from crippling CPTSD--Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She came from a legacy of abuse but a knife attack tipped her over the edge. It only took one mistake, a $6 mistake, to remove Aida from her son and family, locked up for months in a women's prison. They were not given tampons, or enough toilet paper, or adequate wholesome food. There were not enough beds or blankets to keep warm.
And that is when Aida saw The House on Mango Street on the prison library shelf and it started her reclamation and a life of helping the other women with her.
Aaron Bobrow-Strain's book The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez brings to life unforgettable women, and through their stories, explores the failure of Prevention Through Deterrence which posits that if the journey is horrific enough people will not come. Women suffer the most in this system.
He shows how American economic and political policies and the desire for cheap labor created the influx of illegal immigrants.
Immigrants in detention centers are treated like hardened criminals with shackles, solitary confinement, lack of medical care, meager inedible food, and a scarcity of hygiene supplies. They have no legal rights. They are provided no legal counsel. Border Patrol and detention centers have created jobs and business--paid for by the government.
Who are the people seeking refuge in America? What drives them from their homeland? What options are available for legal immigration? What happens to those who are apprehended? This book will answer all your questions. But you may not like the answers.
Justice. How many times have we forgotten this value?
The proceeds from this book will be shared between Aida Hernandez, the Chiricahua Community Health Centers to support emergency services for people dealing with domestic violence or sexual assault, and the author to offset costs of writing the book. Which for me means an instant add to my "to buy" list.
I thank the publisher who provided a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Wonderful combination of engaging storyline and historical information. An essential read of you have any opinions about borders and immigration. An essential read of you DON’T have any opinions about borders and immigration.