The Book of Unknown Americans

Henríquez originally conceived the novel as a short story told from Mayor's point of view.^[1] The novel was not originally going to be based in Delaware.^[1] The 304-page book was published on June 3, 2014 by Knopf.^[2]

The Book Of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez tells the story of Alma and Arturo Rivera who leave their comfortable surroundings in Pátzcuaro when their daughter Maribel suffers a severe head injury. Their journey into the United States leads them to Newark, Delaware, a city with a school for children with developmental disabilities^[3] known as Evers. Alma and Arturo hope that enrolling Maribel in Evers will help her recover from her severe brain damage. Arturo obtains a work visa, and he is able to get a job at a mushroom factory. However, the family's life beyond his job remains uncertain; they do not have a stable home environment, Alma does not work, and Maribel has not been officially admitted to Evers.

The Riveras encounter the plight of many poor immigrants. They do not know how to speak English, they are unfamiliar with the school systems, and they are new to American culture. Their story is alternated with chapters telling short stories about other immigrants coming to America and living in the same apartment complex as the Riveras. These short stories highlight the lives and challenges of their friends and acquaintances who form a support network for the family.

The most important friends who offer emotional support when they meet are Rafael and Celia Toro. The Toro family have two sons, Enrique and Mayor, and they live in the same low-income apartment complex as the Riveras. The Toro parents are immigrants from Panama who have become legal citizens but struggle to get by on one meager income. Celia Toro befriends Alma Rivera, and both women grow quite fond of each other. When Celia's son Mayor meets Maribel he is immediately attracted to her. Yet given her inability to speak fluently due to her head injury, he learns to communicate with her through other means. But their relationship is threatened by Garrett Miller, a boy at Mayor's school, who constantly bullies Mayor. One day after school, Garrett follows them and he bullies Mayor and accosts Maribel. Days later, Garrett sexually assaults Maribel. Her mother Alma witnesses the assault, and she immediately goes to the police. The police dismiss the incident in part because Alma does not know how to speak English well. Her lack of English proficiency leads to miscommunications and a misunderstanding of the facts. The police officer characterizes the incident as two teenagers who are most likely infatuated with one another and a mother who is not savvy about these common liaisons among teenagers. Alma is traumatized by the assault, and she is deeply concerned Arturo will blame her for not keeping Maribel safe. Soon after she meets with the police, she decides not to tell Arturo about the entire incident.

Arturo eventually loses his job and he is unable to find a new one. His new unemployment status causes him to lose his visa, and his non-visa status also affects his family's legal standing. They can no longer legally stay in the United States unless he finds another job quickly.

Meanwhile, Quisqueya Solis, a prying neighbor who has also been the victim of assault, tells Alma that Mayor and Maribel were alone together kissing in a car. Quisqueya suggests, by pure speculation, that Mayor may have been taking advantage of Maribel. This news triggers Alma's trauma when she witnessed Garrett assaulting her daughter. She confronts Celia and bans Mayor from seeing her daughter.

One day in March, after the first snowfall of the year, Mayor steals his father's new used car. He drives to Maribel's school and he helps her leave school grounds on false pretenses. They take a drive to the beach. When Maribel does not come home from school, Alma thinks Garrett may have kidnapped her and sexually assaulted her again. This concern leads her to tell her husband the truth about the Garrett Miller assault.

Arturo is infuriated when he hears the news and decides to go to Garrett's house. When he arrives at Garrett's house he encounters Garrett's father, who is also enraged, and who points a gun at Arturo and then pulls the trigger. When Mayor and Maribel return home they learn that Arturo has been shot by Garrett's father. He dies at the hospital, and Alma decides to return home to Mexico shortly after. As a final gesture of friendship, Celia and her other neighbors donate money that Alma needs to transport Arturo's body back to Mexico. Alma believes Maribel is recovered as they are driven back to Mexico. The novel ends with the first and last chapter that is written from Arturo's point of view.

A theme is an idea or ideas that are prevalent throughout a piece of writing.^[4] In The Book of Unknown Americans there are many themes present.

A theme that is prevalent in the novel is the topic of immigration to the United States and the impact it has on people. Almost all the characters in the novel have immigrated from Latin America. Through each chapter, the audience learns the reasons as to why each character immigrated and how their lives changed since coming to the United States.^[5] Two subcategories of themes that split off from the main theme of immigration are the experiences that the characters face. One is racism and the other is communication.^[6]

Racism is seen throughout the novel in many different forms. There are obvious moments of racism such as when Garret Miller made offensive commentary towards Alma, telling her to go back to her ‘home.’ There are also more discreet moments where the characters experience microaggressions because of their identity.^[6]

Another sub-theme is communication. The main characters in the novel Alma and Arturo do not speak fluent English and face many struggles because of that. An example of this is when Alma and Arturo could not communicate with the school about Maribel’s situation and had to speak through a translator. Although they were given a translator, they still had a gap in their communication.^[6]

Education and Access:

What is special education: Special education is where a child gets support where there lacking. Maribel's family immigrates to the United States for special education resources that are not available in Mexico. Much of the novel's conflict is driven by the families challenges in accessing special education services to their daughter. For example, special education services provide IEPS^[7] which is individualized education plan where individualized support is assigned to the child. A 504 ^[7] plan is a formal plan for how a school will remove barriers so a student with a disability can learn alongside peers in general education. Doesn’t include specially designed instruction. It helped Maribel get where she is and is one explanation for her improved well-being.