Dreaming of Home

A Young Latina’s Journey to Pride, Power, and Belonging

By: Cristina Jiménez

Narrated by: Cristina Jiménez

A MacArthur “Genius” shares her inspiring story, from undocumented newcomer to leader in a powerful immigrant youth movement.

Dreaming of Home is a coming-of-age story both for a young woman finding her true self and for a social movement of immigrant youth trailblazers who inspired the world and changed the lives of millions.

Cristina Jiménez’s family fights to stay afloat as Ecuador falls into a political and economic crisis. When she is thirteen, her parents courageously decide to seek a better life in the U.S., landing in a one-bedroom apartment in Queens, New York. There are many challenges, but eventually, Cristina discovers she is not alone; she finds her calling within a community of social justice organizers. With deep candor and humor, Cristina opens the door to what it’s like to grow up undocumented and the reality that being a “good” immigrant doesn’t shield you from systematic racism, danger, or even the confusion of falling in love.

Through personal stories and historical truth telling, Cristina invites us to acknowledge the America that never was and to imagine the America that could be when everyday people build power and fight for change. And she reminds us that home is more than a physical place on the map, offering each of us a roadmap for finding the home within even when the world around us seems to be crumbling.

©2025 Cristina Jiménez (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Cristina came of age building a powerful movement of young people, fighting for their place in America. Her version of the American dream will be full of wisdom for this era."—Ai-jen Poo, author and organizer, President, The National Domestic Workers Alliance and Executive Director, Caring Across Generations

“Cristina Jiménez is documenting her life journey as an immigrant and in doing so, recording the journey of those who haven’t been acknowledged. We don’t count, we aren’t history unless we tell our own stories. In these turbulent times, Cristina’s voice is not only essential, it is heroic, a tongue of fire blazing in the night.”—Sandra Cisneros

"You cannot write the modern history of the immigrant rights movement—and, in turn, the evolution of racial and social justice—without the leadership of Cristina Jiménez. She is a force, in the best possible way. For years I've waited for her book, and I look forward to the insights she'll share in Dreaming of Home."—Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, founder of Define American, and author of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen