Summary: Diane Guerrero, the television actress from the megahit Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, was just fourteen years old on the day her parents and brother were arrested and deported while she was at school. Born in the U.S., Guerrero was able to remain in the country and continue her education, depending on the kindness of family friends who took her in and helped her build a life and a successful acting career for herself, without the support system of her family.
In the Country We Love is a moving, heartbreaking story of one woman's extraordinary resilience in the face of the nightmarish struggles of undocumented residents in this country. There are over 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, many of whom have citizen children, whose lives here are just as precarious, and whose stories haven't been told. Written with Michelle Burford, this memoir is a tale of personal triumph that also casts a much-needed light on the fears that haunt the daily existence of families likes the author's and on a system that fails them over and over.
Thoughts: I picked this up for no reason, but I'm glad I did. This is the story of Diane Guerrero and how she lived in fear the majority of her childhood over her family's situation. Her family was deported when she was 14 years old, and from then on she lived with various family friends, never being helped by anyone except for the people who let her live in their homes for a few years at a time.
This hit me closer to home than I expected, since I am the first natural born in my family. My family came her on visas that expired not long after and stayed. It was many years before they all became citizens. In fact, my mom was the last one to become a citizen, and I found out much later in life that she found herself in situations where she could've easily been deported. I never knew, so reading this book made me so much aware on how not aware I was of my own family's situation as a child. While very different, there were certain circumstances that were similar, and I am thankful that nothing like what Diane lived through ever happened to me.
With that being said, the beginning of the book was very sad, but felt really important to me. I was wholly invested in Diane's story of how she grew up with the fear that her family would be ripped apart, and how it did happen. She had to learn to survive without her parents and brother for some of the most important years of her life, and she is still separated from them, although living a much different life now that she's become a celebrity.
The second half of the book talked a lot about her growing up, going to college, struggling with jobs, drinking and her mental health. There were times that I wasn't invested in her story because it had to do with her acting career, but nonetheless, found everything she talked about very memorable.
This was definitely something I'm glad I picked up and I think readers of all genres might like. I also recommend the audiobook, which she narrates herself, although her voice can seem very childish (she sounds really young) especially when listening to faster speeds, like I do. Overall though, this was a great first autobiography and I really enjoyed it.
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