By Cristina HenriquezAlma and Arturo Rivera have come to the US from Mexico, sponsored by an American company that has offered Arturo a job. The Riveras hope their move to America will bring hope of helping their beautiful teenage daughter Maribel to recover. Though they don't have much money, they find kindred spirits among their neighbors in their apartment building - immigrants from Guatemala, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and (in the case of their closest new friends, the Toro family) Panama.
Maribel starts school in a special ed setting geared to help kids with disabilities. Maribel makes small strides in her recovery from a brain injury sustained in a fall from a ladder, for which both parents blame themselves. But Maribel's greatest success in speech recovery is through her relationships with the Toros' son Mayor. Mayor is neither the good athlete nor good academic that his older brother is - but he is smitten with the new neighbor, realizes her difficulties, and takes on a protector role when bullies come her way. They spend hours in conversation and, when the two are spotted in Mr Toro's car, a nosey neighbor assumes the worst, and tells Alma. Maribel is then forbidden to see Mayor and reverts into her shell once again.
Then one day, Mayor and Maribel sneak out together in a snowstorm. What seems like a risky move escalates to a tragic outcomes and the reader is struck by the risks that immigrants take, and the not-always-happy endings that result.
This story is told by all the voices in the book. It will change the way I think about immigrants.
No comments:
Post a Comment