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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
I started this back in May, but just got around to finishing it. Diane's account of her childhood and losing her parents is fabulous. I am not an emotional person when reading books, but I did tear up towards the end. Very sad to hear of the passing of her father since the book has been published.
This memoir is not just about her family's deportation but her growth as an actress as well. Her style is very casual, and I think this would be a great book for high school girls to read if looking for a role model/inspiration on following your dreams and overcoming adversity. Very glad she included a call to action at the end--I personally could have done with more of this in the book.
This memoir proves that Diane Guerrero is more than meets the eye. While her characters on Jane the Virgin and OINTB are comically spunky and sometimes ditzy, her narrative voice is piercing and true. She shares about her difficult childhood (her parents were detained and deported when she was just 14) as well as about her struggles with addiction and depression later in life with painful honesty. Through her personal story she sheds light on immigration issues and calls us all to action.
"I've written the book I wish I could've read when I was that girl - and my hope is that, in these pages, others will find the solace I once ached for."
3.5 stars.
This true story felt very timely, with the rash of deportations and racism burning through the United States.
Diane Guerrero is an actress I know and liked from watching her on Jane the Virgin. She's beautiful and bubbly and funny, but this memoir deals with the heartbreaking circumstances of her adolencence. Her parents had come to America illegally, and then spent years trying to get a green card and a path to legal residence. They experienced several setbacks, and one day, they were both taken by immegration police while Diane was at school. She came home to find them gone, locked up, and then deported. She was only 14.
The really shocking part of the story was that no one from child services ever looked to see where she was - a fourteen year old was just left behind with no guardians, no providers or place to live. Its truly cruel behavior, and the ramifications of her family being torn apart kept tormenting her in later years, leading to depression, alcohol abuse, self harm and suicidal thoughts. I would never have guessed it from what I knew of her before.
Diane is very impressive, finding the strength again and again to work though tough times, get up after falling low, and re-learning to hope that things will get better. Though she isn't a particularly poetic or eloquent writer, the story of her childhood up to her "making it" in TV world is very interesting and relevent, and I admit I was emotionally invested. I think its wonderful that she is working today to bring attention to the issues that nearly destroyed her life a decade ago.
These are extremely high stress times. Things are getting worse, with American politics and policies - its as dangerous as it ever was to be a woman, a minority, or someone who believes in democracy as a way to help people all across the board (and not just 5% of it). So this book is another was of putting yourself in someone else's shoes. This girl didn't deserve to have her life ripped apart. We need to educate ourselves, and be aware that this happening. My heart really went out to her. I know what its like to live with no parents, through very different circumstances, and really... you pretend its okay, but it sucks. Her family had a real chance to be happy, and I hope for the next families, the DREAMers, we can make that happen.
This true story felt very timely, with the rash of deportations and racism burning through the United States.
Diane Guerrero is an actress I know and liked from watching her on Jane the Virgin. She's beautiful and bubbly and funny, but this memoir deals with the heartbreaking circumstances of her adolencence. Her parents had come to America illegally, and then spent years trying to get a green card and a path to legal residence. They experienced several setbacks, and one day, they were both taken by immegration police while Diane was at school. She came home to find them gone, locked up, and then deported. She was only 14.
The really shocking part of the story was that no one from child services ever looked to see where she was - a fourteen year old was just left behind with no guardians, no providers or place to live. Its truly cruel behavior, and the ramifications of her family being torn apart kept tormenting her in later years, leading to depression, alcohol abuse, self harm and suicidal thoughts. I would never have guessed it from what I knew of her before.
Diane is very impressive, finding the strength again and again to work though tough times, get up after falling low, and re-learning to hope that things will get better. Though she isn't a particularly poetic or eloquent writer, the story of her childhood up to her "making it" in TV world is very interesting and relevent, and I admit I was emotionally invested. I think its wonderful that she is working today to bring attention to the issues that nearly destroyed her life a decade ago.
These are extremely high stress times. Things are getting worse, with American politics and policies - its as dangerous as it ever was to be a woman, a minority, or someone who believes in democracy as a way to help people all across the board (and not just 5% of it). So this book is another was of putting yourself in someone else's shoes. This girl didn't deserve to have her life ripped apart. We need to educate ourselves, and be aware that this happening. My heart really went out to her. I know what its like to live with no parents, through very different circumstances, and really... you pretend its okay, but it sucks. Her family had a real chance to be happy, and I hope for the next families, the DREAMers, we can make that happen.
I received this for free as part of my library’s book of the month program. Diane’s story was well written and organized. It flowed quite easily and I couldn’t put it down until it got into the whole starving actress section 3/4 of the way through. It’s a story I’ve heard a thousand times. I could have done with a little more glossing over the rise to fame part.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I’m normally not a celebrity memoir reader, but I loved Diane Guerrero’s book. “In the Country We Love” is Guerrero’s story, from childhood to finding celebrity on Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin. But nothing in her life is untouched by her parents status as undocumented immigrants. That shaped her childhood, living in impoverished areas of Boston, by the many working class domestic and labor jobs her parents juggled to make ends meet.
And when Guerrero was 14, both her parents were deported, leaving her alone and neglected in America. The trauma and shock of this event changed everything about Guerrero’s life, and she shares her story with a tender and frank voice. Guerrero describes her family’s experiences as immigrants, how her own life was shaped by these experiences, and how the lives of everyone in her community had been shaped by outdated and impractical immigration policy.
This book was nuanced, conversationally written, and a delight (and heartbreaking) to read. I’d recommend to any of her fans and anyone interested in immigrants and their stories.
And when Guerrero was 14, both her parents were deported, leaving her alone and neglected in America. The trauma and shock of this event changed everything about Guerrero’s life, and she shares her story with a tender and frank voice. Guerrero describes her family’s experiences as immigrants, how her own life was shaped by these experiences, and how the lives of everyone in her community had been shaped by outdated and impractical immigration policy.
This book was nuanced, conversationally written, and a delight (and heartbreaking) to read. I’d recommend to any of her fans and anyone interested in immigrants and their stories.
A moving memoir and yet another insight into how this country consistently fails its immigrant population and its citizen children.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Diane is strong, and I'm glad her story was told.