Arcadia Public Library

"Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of this novel, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her husband, Sam suddenly dies. And then more jolt: her big-hearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought direction in the literature she loves--lines from her...

The lives of three young men, and one unforgettable woman, intertwine over the course of one year after they immigrate from India to Sheffield, England.

"Traveling across the country, journalist Karla Cornejo Villavicencio risked arrest at every turn to report the extraordinary stories of her fellow undocumented Americans. Her subjects have every reason to be wary around reporters, but Cornejo Villavicencio has unmatched access to their stories. Her work culminates in a stunning, essential read for our times. Born in Ecuador and brought to the United States when she was five years old, Cornejo Villavicencio...

"A heart-wrenching novel that gives voice to two mothers: a young undocumented Mexican woman and an Indian-American wife whose love for one lucky boy will bind their fates together Solimar Castro-Valdez is eighteen and drunk on optimism when she embarks on a perilous journey across the US/Mexican border. Weeks later she arrives on her cousin's doorstep in Berkeley, CA, dazed by first love found then lost, and pregnant. This was not the plan. But amid...

The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Martínez has ever known. His family's taquería inspired them as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it's all of these things that make them question if they are ready to leave the neighborhood behind. When Ander meets Santiago López Alvarado, the hot new waiter, falling for each other becomes as natural as breathing. When ICE agents come for Santi, Ander realizes...

After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows no borders.

"At twenty-one, life in Senegal couldn't be better for Lola. An aspiring writer and university graduate, she has a great job, a vibrant social life, and a future filled with possibility. But fate disrupts her world when she falls for Armand, an American Marine stationed at the U.S. Embassy. Her mother, a high court judge in Ghana who endeavors to keep her anchored to home, disapproves of her choice. Against her mother's wishes, Lola plans a future...

"Immigration laws are designed to manage immigrant populations, reassert a nations boundaries, and help define what it means to be a citizen of a given country and all of this is meant to be carried out humanely and without discrimination. But some argue that these protections are not enough to guarantee the welfare and human rights of immigrants who enter the country illegally. Those rights, and whether they are being violated, are among the topics...

"My name is Jose Antonio Vargas. I was born in the Philippines. When I was twelve, my mother sent me to the United States to live with her parents. While applying for a driver's permit, I found out my papers were fake. More than two decades later, I am still here illegally, with no clear path to American citizenship. To some people, I am the "most famous illegal" in America. In my mind, I am only one of an estimated 11 million human beings whose uncertain...

Excel spends his days trying to seem like an unremarkable American teenager, he carefully avoids the spotlight. But Excel knows that his family is far from normal. His mother, Maxima, was once a Filipina B-movie action star who now makes her living scamming men online. The old man they live with is not his grandfather, but Maxima's lifelong martial arts trainer. And years ago, on Excel's tenth birthday, Maxima revealed a secret that he must keep forever....