At the heart of this remarkable novel are Arturo and Alma Rivera, who have left their home in Mexico in the hope of getting help for their daughter Maribel, who has been in a terrible accident. They settle in the small town of Newark, Delaware, so she can attend a special school, but are soon frustrated by the difficulties of living in such an unfamiliar place, unable to speak or understand the language, and cut off from the friends and family they have left so far behind.
Soon they learn that their apartment complex is filled with other immigrants like themselves; people from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Peru. They have come here for different reasons: love, money, political freedom, but they have all faced the challenges - both practical and spiritual - of immigrating to a country where opportunity, as well as discrimination, is part of their daily lives. Ultimately, their different stories come together in a devastating tragedy that befalls the Riveras, but affects the entire building.
The struggles of this small community are brought to life with great imagination and grace. THE BOOK OF UNKNOWN AMERICANS is at once specific and universal, telling the stories of the displaced and unknown, the untold stories of our times.