The New American

When Emilio, a Dreamer and student at UC Berkeley, is deported to Guatemala, he decides to risk everything to make the crossing back to the only home he has ever known. In taut, gorgeous prose, Marcom brings us along on this harrowing journey. I felt I was living this ordeal with Emilio and his new love, Matilde, my throat parched, my feet swollen, each moment full of hope and horror. Yet for all the cruelties and violence and desperation, there is beauty and kindness and love. Every page of THE NEW AMERICAN is terribly alive. Everything is all of a piece. And, by the end, Marcom achieves the miraculous, lifting and expanding our hearts. This is a beautiful and important book.

A book that gives insight and empathy into the hardships of Central Americans escaping the danger in their own countries as well as the Dreamers in the US who never feel truly secure. Pay attention to the ending……the unnamed graves As a reader, do we know whose names belong there?

Once upon a time everyone was a new American. Nowadays the prevalent mentality has shifted too far to recognize or remember that fact. The eponymous protagonist is indeed a very new American, one of the Dreamers, whose family came over from Guatemala when he was just a kid. Most of his family is actually in the country legally, but because of how he came to be here with his father, he actually isnt legal, the fact he wasnt even aware of until he turned 16 and wanted to get a license. And so he speaks English without an accent, attends UC Berkeley, has a white American girlfriend and his life is on track until a random search gets him detained and then deported back to Guatemala. Determined to get back to his American life, he sets off to get back to US and so his nightmarish journey through hostile territories and hostile conditions begins. The author has done serious research on the subject, so its more than likely that the situations the characters of the book find themselves in are probably someones real life stories and they are all the more terrifying for ittheft, rape, beatings and more. All the things a person would subject themselves to for a chance of a new start in a more prosperous (however unwelcoming) country. Without a question, a very timely book. Seems like theres a fair amount of immigrant stories right now on literary shelves. Im actually surprised to be the first person reviewing this, seems like it should be read more. Or maybe its just too sad. Emotionally the journey in the book is absolutely devasting, straight down to the gut punch of an ending. Glad I read it, a well written book with a compelling protagonist that makes you think and emotionally engage is always a great find. There are questions toohow does someone without any legal papers get to attend college? On a scholarship no less. What are the logistics there? Also, probably a more incendiary onebut one of the themes in the book is that citizenship is an almost roulette like matter, some get born into first world, some into third. A chance thing. And those born into third are aware of how terrible their circumstances are, how terrible life in their countries isits terrible enough to risk horrific dangers just to get out of and yet they continue (quite enthusiastically) to bring more lives into this sort of life. And yes, I understand that safe sex, abortions and so on are much tougher in the developing countries (and possibly soon in the US), but stillthere are ways. And yetour protagonists love interest at just 22 already has 2 kids. Shes perfectly aware of the kind of life she was leading in her native country, of the world surrounding her and thoughtwell, why not bring some kids into this? Really? So that now she can leave these kids and risk her life trying to get to a country seems to vehemently (or so the news tells us) not want her, a country whose language she doesnt speak, where she will have no rights or legal protection, hoping to secure some menial low paying job to send some money back to her kids. Its admirable in a way, but also probably doesnt win anyone with antiimmigrant ideas over to her side of the argument. But at any rate, the situation is much more complex than the individual stories comprising it. Central America has become a war zone, it should warrant political asylums being granted. In a different world, it seems. In this one there are books, smart, sad, politically correct books that ought to be read if only to exercise some compassion muscles. Recommended.

Thoughtful and painful, this is the story of Emilio, an undocumented 21 year old college student who finds himself deported to the Guatemala he does not know. This has, sadly, been a very real situation. Emilio decides to try to get back to the US and this is his journey. It’s a dark and dangerous trip, with the potential for death at every corner, especially in the desert. It’s not a light read but it’s enlightening. I’m curious how this will be received in the wake of the American Dirt situation. Both novels have an important message and should be read with an open mind. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

It’s well written but I am conflicted that it wasn’t written by a latinx author. If you can get past that fact it’s a heart pounding edge of your seat reading. Check it out. I am giving it four stars because it’s so well researched and the writing is solid. Happy reading!

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