Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
I first heard her story on Chelsea Handler's show and had to pick up the book. It's all about her life with undocumented immigrant parents, who were deported when she was 14, and how that affected her life and relationships. There's a bit at the end about her breakout into acting too. It's not the most well-written book, but it's a good story, especially in this political climate.
My goodness. I did not expect that. I read the first 100 pages over several days and then blew through the last 200 in just one. Diane’s story is infuriating, devastating and inspiring.
Yes it’s about her parents being deported but it’s mostly about the emotional journey that puts her on.
A trigger warning is necessary because her life takes a very dark turn before she becomes the loveable tv characters we know her for.
I highly recommend this book for its timely and raw story of a woman who is most definitely just getting started.
Yes it’s about her parents being deported but it’s mostly about the emotional journey that puts her on.
A trigger warning is necessary because her life takes a very dark turn before she becomes the loveable tv characters we know her for.
I highly recommend this book for its timely and raw story of a woman who is most definitely just getting started.
Great story about immigration. The most tragic part of this was how hopeful the author was regarding immigration reform towards the end of President Obama's term. The edition I read had a post-Trump afterword. While the author has hope, I can't help but wonder how far back America will be in 2020.
informative
sad
While I didn't think her writing was the best, her story is fascinating and one that needs to not only be told, but listened to.
So grateful to writers like Diane Guerrero for being brave and writing about their experiences so that others can learn. She was fantastic in OITNB and she is fantastic in this book.
3.5
I read this because I wanted to hear from someone who has a pulse on the illegal immigrant scene.
This is somewhat of a rags to riches American dream story. It's a memoir of a girl who was born in the USA to Colombian parents who were in America legally and then stayed a little too long. Long story short, they never got citizenship, though they tried, and were ultimately deported.
Diane tells how that one day when ICE took away her parents affected her entire life--both before, as it was always a possibility, and after, since she was only 14 and didn't go with them. How did it affect her formative years? Her relationships with her parents?
It's a powerful story. I read the book with an open mind, wanting to give her and her experience a fair chance, a validating stamp of approval. But in the end, I still struggle with her entitlement. She makes no concession that her parents were in the USA illegally. I'm convinced that they were very hardworking, and even that they were taken advantage of. Yet when you live in a country, you are responsible to know the laws and follow them, even visa expiration dates in another language.
Throughout the book, but especially in the Call to Action section, the author belabors the issue of ICE disregarding minors who become essentially orphans. No one from ICE or family services seemed to (know?) care she existed, the way she tells it. I'm not sure she and I agree on what should've happened to her, and frankly I'm not sure she would've been ok with going into foster care. Seems her living situations, tenuous as they were, gave her far more freedom and connection to her culture.
Ultimately, I'm glad she has a voice and is using it. I hope her voice experience is taken in the context of "this is one person's story" before we go writing new legislation.
One more thing: I was put off by language choices. She used gratuitous expletives, which I can live with but that kept me from recommending the book to my teenaged niece; other slang word choices are dated and frankly took her image down a notch when it came to thinking of her as a trusted, knowledgeable storyteller.
I read this because I wanted to hear from someone who has a pulse on the illegal immigrant scene.
This is somewhat of a rags to riches American dream story. It's a memoir of a girl who was born in the USA to Colombian parents who were in America legally and then stayed a little too long. Long story short, they never got citizenship, though they tried, and were ultimately deported.
Diane tells how that one day when ICE took away her parents affected her entire life--both before, as it was always a possibility, and after, since she was only 14 and didn't go with them. How did it affect her formative years? Her relationships with her parents?
It's a powerful story. I read the book with an open mind, wanting to give her and her experience a fair chance, a validating stamp of approval. But in the end, I still struggle with her entitlement. She makes no concession that her parents were in the USA illegally. I'm convinced that they were very hardworking, and even that they were taken advantage of. Yet when you live in a country, you are responsible to know the laws and follow them, even visa expiration dates in another language.
Throughout the book, but especially in the Call to Action section, the author belabors the issue of ICE disregarding minors who become essentially orphans. No one from ICE or family services seemed to (know?) care she existed, the way she tells it. I'm not sure she and I agree on what should've happened to her, and frankly I'm not sure she would've been ok with going into foster care. Seems her living situations, tenuous as they were, gave her far more freedom and connection to her culture.
Ultimately, I'm glad she has a voice and is using it. I hope her voice experience is taken in the context of "this is one person's story" before we go writing new legislation.
One more thing: I was put off by language choices. She used gratuitous expletives, which I can live with but that kept me from recommending the book to my teenaged niece; other slang word choices are dated and frankly took her image down a notch when it came to thinking of her as a trusted, knowledgeable storyteller.
Listened to the audiobook, which was hilarious and harrowing by turn. I think Diane's casual style might be off-putting for some, but I really enjoyed the way she conveyed herself and her story of growing up in a family surrounded by immigration issues and the effect this had on her both at the time and as a young adult. I was less interested in the section towards the end which focused on her breaking into acting, but I was glad that she was able to tie it back into her journey overall.
Diane shares her life in a funny, heartfelt memoir with great pop culture references and calls to action for immigration reform. Worthwhile read.
For a good cry, listen to Diane Guerrero's heart-wrenching performance of the audiobook version of her memoir about fending for herself after the deportation of her parents. Whew.
Guerrero plays fun, fearless characters on two of my favorite shows, so I was surprised and intrigued by her tragic backstory. Wherever you stand on the immigration debate — and trust me, my feelings even as a child of immigrants are mixed — you'll feel for the plight of a young girl who fell through the cracks of the broken system. Guerrero lost her family in an instant, and she was left to figure out her next moves on her own. Child services didn't come knocking. No foster home was arranged for her. She was simply left behind.
In an approachable narrative that at times sounds like a conversation you'd have while kicking it with your homegirl, Guerrero interweaves tales of her childhood both with and without her parents, her difficulties processing her life with them away in Colombia and her struggles to stand on her own two feet.
There were so many moments in this book that made me angry and upset. I was appalled to hear about how, after her parents were arrested, neighbors walked right into Guerrero's home and raided the fridge, telling her they wouldn't be needing that food anymore. I was deeply saddened by her raw honesty about her experiences with self-injury and alcohol abuse and her near suicide attempt. I was tickled by hearing about her audition for Maritza on OITNB knowing that it all worked out despite the agonizingly long wait for a callback. And when she met the president and he told her how much he loved her on the show? I was dead.
If you are currently in the process of trying to move to Canada, you have probably learned that immigration laws are tough. Guerrero details all the attempts her family made to become legal residents, the scams they were victimized by. She saves the bulk of any facts and figures for the final chapter, where she brings light to the exploitation undocumented immigrants are subjected to in backbreaking jobs and masterfully takes down the idea of building The Wall (most immigrants fly here and overstay their visas, like her parents did).
Guerrero's honesty is refreshing and illuminating. She doesn't hold back from revealing her bitterness toward her parents. She wasn't a model daughter, and for years avoided speaking to her parents as much as possible despite her love for them. I related to her financial struggles through college and the way she grappled with trying to be a "good girl" as her world fell apart.
Warm, funny yet rooted in gravitas, In the Country We Love is an enlightening, personal read that puts a face on one of the most pressing issues of American society. Let it challenge and open you.
(This review originally appeared on Girl Friday Lit.)
Guerrero plays fun, fearless characters on two of my favorite shows, so I was surprised and intrigued by her tragic backstory. Wherever you stand on the immigration debate — and trust me, my feelings even as a child of immigrants are mixed — you'll feel for the plight of a young girl who fell through the cracks of the broken system. Guerrero lost her family in an instant, and she was left to figure out her next moves on her own. Child services didn't come knocking. No foster home was arranged for her. She was simply left behind.
In an approachable narrative that at times sounds like a conversation you'd have while kicking it with your homegirl, Guerrero interweaves tales of her childhood both with and without her parents, her difficulties processing her life with them away in Colombia and her struggles to stand on her own two feet.
There were so many moments in this book that made me angry and upset. I was appalled to hear about how, after her parents were arrested, neighbors walked right into Guerrero's home and raided the fridge, telling her they wouldn't be needing that food anymore. I was deeply saddened by her raw honesty about her experiences with self-injury and alcohol abuse and her near suicide attempt. I was tickled by hearing about her audition for Maritza on OITNB knowing that it all worked out despite the agonizingly long wait for a callback. And when she met the president and he told her how much he loved her on the show? I was dead.
If you are currently in the process of trying to move to Canada, you have probably learned that immigration laws are tough. Guerrero details all the attempts her family made to become legal residents, the scams they were victimized by. She saves the bulk of any facts and figures for the final chapter, where she brings light to the exploitation undocumented immigrants are subjected to in backbreaking jobs and masterfully takes down the idea of building The Wall (most immigrants fly here and overstay their visas, like her parents did).
Guerrero's honesty is refreshing and illuminating. She doesn't hold back from revealing her bitterness toward her parents. She wasn't a model daughter, and for years avoided speaking to her parents as much as possible despite her love for them. I related to her financial struggles through college and the way she grappled with trying to be a "good girl" as her world fell apart.
Warm, funny yet rooted in gravitas, In the Country We Love is an enlightening, personal read that puts a face on one of the most pressing issues of American society. Let it challenge and open you.
(This review originally appeared on Girl Friday Lit.)