This is a powerful and piercing book. It has energized me to integrate it into my classroom curriculum this semester. I have lots to chew on. ( )

The Short of It:

A young woman is pulled between her family at home, her studies at school, and the political turmoil over the forcible removal of a young Cuban boy and his return to his father back in Cuba.

The Rest of It:

Many of you may recall the story of Elián González. He was the center of an international custody battle back in 2000. Make Your Home Among Strangers includes a fictionalized account of his story in the form of Ariel Hernandez.

Lizet is the first in her family to attend college but when she announces her acceptance, she is met with disappointment. Her sister just found out she is pregnant and Lizet’s mother was just left by her husband and the house has been sold out from under her. No one in the family is happy about this turn of events but Lizet is curious about a life outside of what she knows and goes, leaving some bad feelings behind.

At school, Lizet struggles. The schooling she’s had prior to college did not prepare her for the rigorous work that is expected of her. Her ties to home and the guilt she has over not helping her sister during this time, cause her to visit home often which confuses her more.

In the midst of all this, Lizet’s mother has joined with others to protest the removal of Ariel Hernandez. He lost his mother leaving Cuba and they feel that since he made it to the US, that he should be allowed to stay but the possibility of his removal looms large as the rest of the story unfolds.

This was a quick, one-two punch of a read. Crucet’s writing is genuine and thoughtful. Lizet is a very believable character. Not perfect, but trying. My discussion group chose this book for next week’s discussion. I had to go back to read up on Elián González because I had forgotten a lot of the particulars. Do you remember his story?

For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter. ( )

"When everyone around you thinks they already know what your life is like, it's easier to play in to that idea"- Lizet Ramirez

Lizet, daughter of Cuban immigrant parents decides to attend an elite college in order to carve a way I the world for herself. Her parents split right before she starts and her mother and sister feel betrayed that she left them behind. Lizet feels trapped between two worlds: being a minority student and family responsibilities.

At the same time that she is struggling in college, the plight of Ariel Hernandez makes the national news. The story is told through Lizet's eyes but interwoven with the immigration and custody battle that is ensuing with Ariel Hernandez, a boy who washed ashore after his mother and stepfather died trying to make it safely to Miami. Lizet's mother soon becomes completely consumed with Ariel's quest for the American dream while negating her daughter's experiences trying to achieve this same ideal.

What I loved about this novel was that it spotlighted the first generation immigrant experience in college. It exposed the cultural challenges to diversity in college experiences in nuanced ways. It gave voice to the Latinx experience in education and provided insight into the traditional ways that often times become a barrier to upward mobility.

The characters were unique and not stereotypical. The author wrote each one with depth, unique speech and authenticity. They had a duality that made you want to hate them one minute and then love them the next. The author gave a descriptive picture of Miami, its culture and highlights the Cuban experience especially. You feel like you know these places by the end of the story.

It was refreshing to feel that I could identify with so many aspects of the story. It stretched my own understanding on the Latinx experience and made me sad over some parts that haven't changed, especially the immigration policy in the U.S. More importantly I came away with the idea that home is what you make of it. Home is the reference point from which you create your own way in the world.

I loved this story and was totally captivated by the events. At times I felt Ariel's experience took precedence, I could see why it was important. The ending was satisfying to wrap up the story but left me with sadness about the state of immigration today. ( )

Lizet Ramirez is the first in her Cuban-American family to go to college, and she doesn't go to one of the schools in Miami: she gets accepted to Rawlings, an elite liberal arts college in upstate New York. She applied in secret and presented it as a fait accompli, but her parents didn't have the reaction she wanted: they allowed her to go, but didn't say they were proud of her (or even recognize her accomplishment), and Lizet's impending departure causes her dad to leave the family, and sell their house out from under Lizet's mom and sister, Leidy. (Leidy has a baby, Dante; she got pregnant with her high school boyfriend by secretly going off the pill, but he surprised her by refusing to marry her or be an involved father.)

So Lizet's family sees her leaving more as a betrayal than an accomplishment, as does her boyfriend Omar. And, once at Rawlings, and despite the college's attempt at "diversity outreach," Lizet is in over her head - she doesn't even know what she doesn't know, and she gets in trouble for plagiarism. Lizet is ultimately allowed to stay, and seeks out the resources the college provides in order to bring her work up to the level it needs to be.

But while she's waiting to hear the results of her academic hearing, Lizet flies home for Thanksgiving as a surprise, and it ends up being the same day that Ariel Hernandez (a thinly veiled Elian Gonzalez) arrives in Miami from Cuba. Ariel's relatives are two blocks from the Rodriguez apartment in Little Havana, and Lizet's mother becomes obsessed with his family and their case, attending (and later organizing) protests and regularly appearing on the news.

The split between Lizet's two worlds is sharp: the mostly white, rich world of Rawlings, and the largely Cuban-American working class of Hialeah and Little Havana. Lizet navigates it as best she's able, with little help; none of the people in either of her worlds are able to grasp the reality of the other. (Ethan, an RA who is kind and friendly, and Jacquelin, a Latina student from California, come the closest, but Lizet is largely unable to bridge the gap.)

From the first pages, the reader knows that Lizet becomes some kind of scientist, but her journey there, interwoven with the drama playing out with Ariel's family in Miami and Cuba, makes the story.

See also: Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (but Make Your Home Among Strangers is richer and more complex)

Quotes

I am not being racist, I said to her back. I can know things you don't know because of where I grew up. That's not me being racist. (Lizet to white roommate Jillian, 90)

When everyone around you thinks they already know what your life is like, it's easier to play in to that idea... (65)

And I did not like that I suddenly had this ability to see her that way, isolated from our shared history. I didn't know if she'd changed or if she'd always looked that way but now I could just see through my feelings somehow. (139)

I was doing something I'd done hundreds of times before, but I was suddenly aware of my performance of making cafe con leche, of trying to pass for what I thought I already was. (166)

This is good, she said. We never, ever use pencil because we never erase anything. You must keep the mistakes there. Mistakes are vital to every scientist's process. Just put a line through whatever you did incorrectly and keep going.
I wrote down this sentence and stared at it. It made perfect sense. The forgiveness built into this basic research philosophy - so simple and obvious - instantly validated by first semester in a way I could finally accept: everything led to this moment in this lab, the beginning of a new challenge of my own choosing. Put a line through it and keep going... (254) ( )

It's odd to think of the turn of the millennium as historical but I guess it is now. This is a story of a young Cuban woman raised in Miami during the Elian Gonzalez situation. She is the first of her family to go to college and she is torn between her family in Florida and her new, created family in the North. Perfect for young women just graduated from high school or at a crossroads in their life. ( )