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Karla Cornejo Villavicencio: The Undocumented Americans (2020, One World) 4 stars

One of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard reveals the hidden lives of …

Review of 'The Undocumented Americans' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

I enjoyed this book, especially the paragraphs where Cornejo Villavicencio breaks the fourth wall a bit and reaches out fo the book to shake you the shoulders. Here's one such bit from the end of the book:

I follow my own advice while trying to hold off on the suicidal ideation while trying to be as socially fucking mobile as socially fucking possible and then these kids fucking find me, and what do I do, but invite them into my heart and tell them, babes, go to school, climb the ranks, kill the salutatorian, make it look like an accident, and in your valedictory address, remind your school that cops are pigs, and ICE are Nazis, and you are John at the foot of the cross, Jesus’s most loved apostle, maybe his lover, and you’re in the holy word, escape to my home for some chamomile tea and RuPaul, there will always be room for you, I love you and forever will.

Though at times found myself wishing it took a more systematic view of what being undocumented in America means.