Title: “The Book of Unknown Americans”

Author/Reviewer: Claire Hopley

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Argument (does the reviewer recommend the book and why): / Evidence (which features of the book lead to either a positive or negative review): / Do you agree? Why or why not?
The book was overall good but it had a few slip ups that affected the immersion and it probably would have been able to lead to better detailing and character development if particular ideas were pushed further. / In the book according to the reviewer, it lacked cultural diversity and was only about mexicans when it wasn’t the case and many characters who were perceived as “mexican” weren’t. And it would’ve led to even more depth for every character who wasn’t mexican that was perceived as so. / I agree as it clearly makes sense now that I look back at it. Some characters could’ve had more depth and character development as well as maybe learn something new about hispanics in general rather than just assuming they’re all “mexican”.
The reviewer does recommend the book to others, and tells us ahead of time that the book leaves others wondering; it still leaves us wondering what happened in the book even after finishing it. / Some evidence includes the author mentioning different diversity of Hispanic cultures. Not everything or everyone that is Spanish is Mexican and people need to stop automatically assuming that. I think mentioning this in the review draws attention to other readers so they can see the diversity of Hispanic cultures. / Yes so far I have really enjoyed this book and I also think it is cool that they include the Mexican and Puerto Rican cultures. (I am both of these.)
Claire Hopley dose not directly recommend the novel, but she indicates it. She writes about how the novel keeps an interest and appeal to the novel. / Throughout the review she writes about the plot of the novel and the main characters. She writes about the basically love story between Maribel and Mayor and how they are drawn to each other. She writes about the most interesting points in the novel. / I agree with Claire on her review. I do think that the novel is interesting and that it keeps an appeal to the novel. From what I’ve read there has not been one dull stretch in the novel there is always something happening and events happing that leave suspense that leads up to something else.
The reviewer does recommend this novel to other readers because that author focuses on each character with detail and also using personal stories for each character. All the characters have their own problems that become unresolved that which leads to suspension within the character. Despite this suspension, there is still interest and appeal within the novel that grabs the readers attention. / The evidence that the author of this review is “At the end of “The Book of Unknown Americans” this issue is unresolved. Celia hasn’t got a job. Mayor is still not playing soccer. The nosy neighbor is still nosy and still boasting about her two sons in college. Here the author suggests that life goes on, with its ups and downs, swings and roundabouts. She is at her strongest in this depiction of the quotidian. When she lets fate play a hand in her story, she edges toward melodrama. Though this impinges on the suspension of disbelief, the interest and appeal of the novel remain”. This shows how even though there are unresolved situations within the characters, the author manages to grab the readers attention by keeping this novel interesting and suspenseful. / I agree with this because all the problems within this novel does not have the answers and you have to continuously read it for you to be able to know how it will resolve. The suspension and the urge to know what happens between the characters keeps the readers curious and the author of the novel keeps the suspension flow throughout the novel.
The reviewer recommends this book because, it is a side of America few of us see. She also states that it is a very easy read. / The reviewer says little to nothing negative about the book. She mostly reviews it and says things that she liked that where included, “butCristina Henriquezhandles it freshly, so it gives her novel a narrative drive that complements the more static personal accounts of the other characters.” As you can the reviewer likes how Henriquez handles the novel and how she does each chapter differently. / I agree with the reviewers opinion, I enjoyed this book and I liked how you could see different character perspectives throughout the novel. I also liked the spacing of the book it was not to long of a read or to short. The thing that I enjoyed most about it was how easy it was to read, the novel had very basic English in it. One thing I did not like was the Spanish words because I hardly know Spanish.
The reviewer never mentions recommendation of the novel she simply states good things about the authors writing and her ability to keep the novel interesting and appealing to the everyday reader. / The authors story telling and characterization is what keeps this reviewer intrigued and left with nothing but positive reviews. The reviewer states, “The strength of the book is in the quiet details that convey this family's tragedy” to convey that the novel does a great job at portraying this families hardship through simplicities. / I do agree with this reviewer because I quite enjoy this novel. I relate to a lot of the events mentioned in the novel and the fact that she throws in some Spanish to the novel makes for a comedic and comfortable read for me. This also just makes it that much more relatable.
The reviewer recommends the book because of how the author gives some lime light to the static characters and how she handles the interaction between the patents. / The love story between Mayor and Maribel.The detail of the stories of the primary characters and the careful attention to detail on how Maribel’s accident has affected the family and her parents marriage. / Yes, because with such attention to detail. We can get an insight on how these families are affected by past events that drive them to immigrate to America, and how we get to see how they are treated when they do get here. Also the in depth story allows us to get invested into the story and makes us feel like we are there experiencing it all.
She does not recommend nor does she condemn the book. / In her conclusion stating there is no resolution and the author is strongest when delivering the story of their daily lives, she does not seem very enthusiastic. Also, without giving feedback regarding inspiration or a lesson from the book, it seems she was not impressed. / No, I feel Hopley missed the mark and failed to take away something more from the book, rather than just the face value storyline. She states the daily life operations is the author’s strongpoint and the story lacked resolution. I was disappointed she did not make the connection to the struggles these characters and sub characters endured. They left everything behind without any guarantees for success, simply have the measly daily life they had in Delaware.