Children Of The Land: A Memoir
by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
Buy on AmazonAn Entertainment Weekly, The Millions, and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2020 This unforgettable memoir from a prize-winning poet about growing up undocumented in the United States recounts the sorrows and joys of a family torn apart by draconian policies and chronicles one young man's attempt to build a future in a nation that denies his existence. "You were not a ghost even though an entire country was scared of you. No one in this story was a ghost. This was not a story." When Marcelo Hernandez Castillo was five years old and his family was preparing to cross the border between Mexico and the United States, he suffered temporary, stress-induced blindness.…
Recommended by
"Migration and the U.S.-Mexico border have been so politicized that it’s easy to forget people are at the heart of the conversation. Marcelo Hernández Castillo does a superb job of rehumanizing the discussion by sharing his story of undocumented migration to the U.S. and eventual journey to citizenship. Along the way, he exposes the flaws in the immigration system, discusses the realities of undocumented immigrants, and shares the story of his absent father, caught in a long battle for citizenship after being deported. This is nonfiction with a lot of heart that shines a light on the human side of an ongoing political discussion."
NPR Books We Love — 2020 · apps.npr.org