The Book of Unknown Americans (2014) by Christina Enriquez

 1,001 Novels:  A Library of America

The Book of Unknown American (2014)

by Christina Enriquez

Newark,. Delaware

Delaware: 1/3

    Welcome to Delaware! I think I took the train through Delaware on the way to New York back in college.  Beyond that, no.  When I was in college I never- not once- got in a car driven by myself or someone else to explore the area.  It's not a regret, exactly, but I doubt I will ever in my life get another three or so years to explore a part of the United States like I could have in college.  Delaware registers only three books in the 1,001 Novels: A Library of America project, two in the north and one in the south. I'm going to lump these three books in with Maryland (9) and DC(11) to give me a Chapter 4: North subgroup of 23 books.  The other subchapter will be Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

   The Book of Unknown Americans is one of those good YA titles in the 1,001 Novels project where I wasn't entirely sure it was actually a YA novel until I finished it and looked up reviews and internet mentions.  It's basically a YA title, plot 2 (Plot one is the YA bildungsroman, plot two is the tragedy befalls an overprotected child as they transition to adolescence.) Here, the main plot is a mom/dad/brain damaged daughter who legally immigrate to Newark, Delaware so their daughter can take advantage of a school for special education in the area.  Dad, formerly the owner of his own construction firm, takes a job at a mushroom farm to secure working papers.  Mom, unable to work under the terms of their immigration status, sits around the house and tries to cope with life in America.  Daughter makes a friend with the neighbor boy, the child of Panamanian immigrants and other minor characters include a Puerto Rican, a Venezuelan and a Dominican- all legal immigrants living in the same apartment complex outside of Newark, Delaware.

   The tension in the plot comes from the relationship between the neighbor boy and the brain damaged high-school aged daughter of the main family.  Once that gets going it is crystal clear that a tragedy will befall the family as a result, and when it happens the mechanism is hardly surprising.  On the other hand, it's great to read a book written from the POV- legal immigrants from Latin America (various) living in Northern Delaware- exactly the type of book for the 1,001 Novels:  A Library of America project.