My Family Divided

June 1, 2018

Gr 6-8-An adapted version of Guerrero's Alex Award-winning In the Country We Love: My Family Divided for middle schoolers. Guerrero recounts with candor her early life as a child of undocumented immigrants living in a supportive community in Boston: the joys of rollerblading with friends coupled with the fearful reality of being stopped by the police or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). When Guerrero was just 14 years old, her parents were suddenly deported and she was left to rely on the care of family friends as no one from Child Protective Services or ICE ever checked on her. Money, corrupt lawyers, and language barriers were among the obstacles preventing her parents from obtaining citizenship. Guerrero thoughtfully touches on the resulting trauma of this event, including bouts of depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts; readers sensitive to such topics may have difficulty with these passages. Throughout the book, the tone is conversational and peppered with humor; however, Guerrero does not mince words when discussing racism, politics, and family tensions as well as the fear, shame, and emotional turmoil she experienced. VERDICT A moving coming-of-age memoir for middle schoolers. Pair with Reyna Grande's The Distance Between Us.-Laura Dooley-Taylor, Lake Zurich Middle School North, Hawthorn Woods, IL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
Guerrero tells her own story of growing up with undocumented immigrant parents and the devastating effect on her life when they were deported.Using a conversational tone that makes her story eminently accessible, Guerrero (writing with Moroz) tells of being born with a privilege her parents did not have: U.S. citizenship. As is the case with many undocumented immigrants, from the time they arrived from Colombia they took on all kinds of low-paying jobs, dreaming of a better life for themselves and, particularly, their children. Although they kept a low profile, Guerrero's parents were detained and deported in 2001, when she was 14. Left behind to fend for herself, Guerrero moved in with family friends until she went to college. The trauma of her experience finally caught up with her there, when she suffered from debilitating depression and started cutting. Eventually, with a series of lucky breaks and by sheer gumption and determination, she landed a part on the hit show Orange Is the New Black. Nowadays Guerrero also works to bring to light the plight of undocumented families and to fight for their rights. A list of resources is included. Although the book is pitched to a middle-grade audience, Guerrero's struggles as a teen and young adult are likely to go over their heads--and, importantly, will resonate keenly with YA readers.This is a timely reminder that none of us lives in a vacuum and that deportation affects more than just the deportee. (Memoir. 12-18)

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June 1, 2018
Grades 3-6 In her Call to Action at the end of My Family Divided, Guerrero states that 7 percent of school-age children in the U.S. have at least one undocumented parent, a staggering number. When she lost her parents to deportation, she felt utterly alone. As an adult, she knows that isn't the case, and this young readers' adaptation of her adult memoir, In the Country We Love (2016), her moving account?which addresses her heartbreak, her struggles after losing her parents and being forgotten by the local government, her depression, and her resolve to succeed?should help young readers in similar situations find the reassurance she missed out on. Though her story is occasionally difficult to bear, Guerrero and Moroz's conversational tone makes it digestible, and the many photographs throughout lighten things up between chapters. As an activist, Guerrero also gives readers a path to action themselves, whether they're in her shoes or simply want to help, writing, I've chosen to view my ordeal as an opportunity to be a voice for millions. Truly a book of our generation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)