The New American - by Micheline Aharonian Marcom (Paperback)

About the Book

"Emilio thinks he is living the American Dream: his parents, who emigrated from Guatemala to California, sacrifice daily to make sure of it. And his life seems relatively normal until he turns sixteen. Like most teenagers, Emilio is determined to get his driver's license-however, his mother dissuades him from doing so. When Emilio asks why, his parents reveal a shocking secret: he is undocumented. Emilio adjusts to his new normal. Under the Dreamers' Act, he attends Berkley. He falls in love. Everything seems fine...until Emilio gets into a car accident and-without a driver's license or any documentation-the policeman on the scene reports him to Immigration Services. Emilio is deported to Guatemala. But he is determined to get back to California, the only home he has ever known. It is an epic journey that takes him through the cities, jungles, and deserts of South America, towards thieves and corrupt law enforcement but also kind strangers and new friends. Drawing from interviews with Dreamers, and told in lyrical prose, Micheline Marcom weaves a heart-pounding and heartbreaking tale of adventure. This is a timely novel that asks us what we have in common, across experiences and borders, and what truly makes us American"--

Book Synopsis

This "harrowing, heartbreaking story" (Kirkus Reviews) depicts the epic journey of a young Guatemalan American college student, a "dreamer," who gets deported and decides to make his way back home to California.

One day, Emilio learns the shocking secret: he is undocumented. His parents, who emigrated from Guatemala to California, had never told him.

Emilio slowly adjusts to his new normal. All is going well, he's in his second year at UC Berkeley...then he gets into a car accident, and--without a driver's license or any ID--the policeman on the scene reports him to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Once deported to Guatemala, Emilio is determined to get back to California, the only home he has ever known. It is an epic journey that takes him across thousands of miles and eventually the Sonoran Desert of the United States-Mexico border, meeting thieves and corrupt law enforcement but also kind strangers and new friends.

Inspired in part by interviews with Central American refugees, and told in lyrical prose, Micheline Aharonian Marcom weaves a "powerful, heartbreaking" (Publishers Weekly) tale of adventure. In The New American, Marcom "depicts inhumanity with visceral force, but her bracing empathy (and hope) shines above all" (Entertainment Weekly). This is a compassionate story of one young man who risks so much to return home.

Review Quotes

"[An] emotionally piercing, compulsively readable novel." --SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

"[A] harrowing, heartbreaking story...Marcom's plotting and pacing are well honed, and her prose is often revelatory...a gripping novel."--KIRKUS

"[A] poetic nightmarescape that hums with foreboding and the anguish of lost innocence....Marcom masterfully navigates the graphic ugliness of deportation and anguished immigration with entreaties to a remote and capricious God, creating a tough but necessary and beautiful novel."--BOOKLIST

"[Marcom's] telling resonates with heartbreaking authenticity. And despite the travails she is describing, Marcom's writing is vibrant and often poetic....Today's headlines will not let us forget that thousands of other children riding the Bestia. Marcom's compassionate novel illuminates their painful journey."--NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS

"[Marcom] depicts inhumanity with visceral force, but her bracing empathy (and hope) shines above all."--ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

"Inspired by interviews with Central American refugees, the latest captivating novel by Micheline Aharonian Marcom centers a Dreamer named Emilio, who is determined to return to California after being deported."--MS. MAGAZINE

"Inspired in part by interviews with Central American refugees, and told in lyrical prose, Micheline Aharonian Marcom's novel The New American tracks the heart-pounding and fictional journey of a dreamer, a term referring to young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, who have lived and gone to school here, and who, in many cases, identify as American."--FORTUNE

"Marcom has penned a lyrical mediation on being and becoming, identity and anonymity, and the ambiguity of place." - LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review)

"Marcom's prose is steady and soulful...and the narrative is deepened by a series of lyrical interludes describing dangerous journeys of unnamed refugees...Marcom's remarkable tale credibly captures the desperation and despair of those who undertake the dangerous trek north." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (Starred Review)

"We need books like The New American, by Micheline Aharonian Marcom, which sweeps you into an uncomfortable reality, expands your heart, and helps you see through the eyes of a dreamer fighting to regain a lost promise. The world within its pages is unflinching and cruel but brims with hope and beauty. A catalyst for connection and empathy, The New American is also an immersive page-turner that will keep you reading eagerly to its conclusion."--NECESSARY FICTION

About the Author

Micheline Aharonian Marcom was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Los Angeles. She has published seven novels, including a trilogy of books about the Armenian genocide and its aftermath in the 20th century. She has received fellowships and awards from the Lannan Foundation, the Whiting Foundation, and the US Artists' Foundation. Her first novel, Three Apples Fell From Heaven, was a New York Times Notable Book and Runner-Up for the PEN/Hemingway Award for First Fiction. Her second novel, The Daydreaming Boy, won the PEN/USA Award for Fiction. In 2008, Marcom taught in Beirut, Lebanon, on a Fulbright Fellowship. Marcom splits her time between California and Virginia where she is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia. She is the founder and Creative Director of The New American Story Project [NASP], a digital oral history project focused on unaccompanied Central American minors who journeyed thousands of miles to reach the US. Visit NASP at NewAmericanStoryProject.org.