The Book of Unknown Americans
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Various
About this listen
A boy and a girl who fall in love. Two families whose hopes collide with destiny. An extraordinary novel that offers a resonant new definition of what it means to be American.
Arturo and Alma Rivera have lived their whole lives in Mexico. One day, their beautiful fifteen-year-old daughter, Maribel, sustains a terrible injury, one that casts doubt on whether she’ll ever be the same. And so, leaving all they have behind, the Riveras come to America with a single dream: that in this country of great opportunity and resources, Maribel can get better.
When Mayor Toro, whose family is from Panama, sees Maribel in a Dollar Tree store, it is love at first sight. It’s also the beginning of a friendship between the Rivera and Toro families, whose web of guilt and love and responsibility is at this novel’s core.
Woven into their stories are the testimonials of men and women who have come to the United States from all over Latin America. Their journeys and their voices will inspire you, surprise you, and break your heart.
Suspenseful, wry and immediate, rich in spirit and humanity, The Book of Unknown Americans is a work of rare force and originality.
©2014 Cristina Henriquez (P)2014 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Cassie Salazar and Luke Morrow couldn't be more different. Sharp-witted Cassie works nights at a bar in Austin, Texas, to make ends meet while pursuing her dream of becoming a singer/songwriter. Luke is an army trainee, about to ship out for duty, who finds comfort in the unswerving discipline of service. But a chance encounter at Cassie's bar changes the course of both their lives.
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RATING PURPLE HEARTS BOOK VS PURPLE HEARTS MOVIE
- By Rozzy on 02-05-23
By: Tess Wakefield
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Breaking Night
- A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
- By: Liz Murray
- Narrated by: Liz Murray
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls' home. At age 15, Liz found herself on the streets when her family finally unraveled. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. Then, when Liz's mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny.
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unbelievably inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-12
By: Liz Murray
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The Center of Everything
- By: Laura Moriarty
- Narrated by: Julie Dretzin
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Center of Everything is the fictional story of 10-year-old math prodigy Evelyn Bucknow. Living in Kansas with her single mother and deeply religious grandmother, Evelyn believes she is destined to marry Travis, the boy next door. But as she grows up, she experiences the heartbreak of a love not meant to be. Author Laura Moriarty was a recipient of the George Bennet Fellowship for Creative Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy.
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not religious fiction
- By Theresa Jameson on 04-28-14
By: Laura Moriarty
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The Good Goodbye
- By: Carla Buckley
- Narrated by: Ali Ahn, Suzy Jackson, Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Two cousins, Rory and Arden, lie unconscious in a hospital burn unit. The fire, which broke out in their shared college dorm room, killed another student, and the police want answers. Tension between Rory and Arden's parents was already at an all-time high before the fire, owing to a recent financial crisis and the decline of the family business. As the parents huddle anxiously in the waiting room, carefully avoiding the subject of their own unraveling relationships, disturbing truths come to light.
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I could not stop listening.
- By Amy Davis on 05-29-16
By: Carla Buckley
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The Rest of Her Life
- By: Laura Moriarty
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Leigh is the mother of high-achieving, popular high school senior Kara. Their relationship is already strained for reasons Leigh does not fully understand when, in a moment of carelessness, Kara makes a mistake that ends in tragedy, the effects of which not only divide Leigh's family, but polarize the entire community.
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Obnoxious musical interludes ruin the story
- By Joan on 12-25-11
By: Laura Moriarty
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Side Effects May Vary
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When 16-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs - however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, who she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that's as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her archnemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger).
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Listening Experiences May Vary
- By The Reading Date on 05-18-14
By: Julie Murphy
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The Salt House
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Duffy
- Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the coastal town of Alden, Maine, Hope and Jack Kelly have settled down to a life of wedded bliss. They have a beautiful family, a growing lobster business, and the Salt House - an oceanfront cottage they're renovating into their dream home. But tragedy strikes when their young daughter doesn't wake up from her afternoon nap, taking her last breath without making a sound. A year later each member of the Kelly family navigates the world on their own private island of grief.
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Culturally closed minded to what going on today.
- By Susan Griggs on 01-11-22
By: Lisa Duffy
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My True Love Gave to Me
- Twelve Holiday Stories
- By: Stephanie Perkins - editor
- Narrated by: Various
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
You're going to fall in love with My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by the international bestselling Stephanie Perkins. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.
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Nice Holiday Read
- By Doha on 11-23-16
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Bullet in the Brain
- By: Tobias Wolff
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Anders is an angry, cynical man. A book critic known for his scathing reviews, he finds any excuse to dismiss, belittle, or insult. This afternoon is no more agitating than the next. Angers finds himself in a long line at the bank, waiting to reach a teller. Even after two men - wearing masks and carrying guns - take control of the building, Anders is unfazed. It's this behavior that lands him with a pistol against his stomach and a man screamingin his face. And when the bank robber, indignant over Anders' behavior, shoots the book critic in the head, his mind floats through the memories of his life, settling on one particular event....
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The Perfect Example
- By Sarah on 08-01-17
By: Tobias Wolff
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The Art of Crash Landing
- A Novel
- By: Melissa DeCarlo
- Narrated by: Johanna Parker
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Mattie Wallace has really screwed up this time. Broke and knocked up, she's got all her worldly possessions crammed into six giant trash bags and nowhere to go. Try as she might, Mattie can no longer deny that she really is turning into her mother, a broken alcoholic who never met a bad choice she didn't make. When Mattie gets news of a possible inheritance left by a grandmother she's never met, she jumps at this one last chance to turn things around.
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Unlikable character
- By RueRue on 09-18-15
By: Melissa DeCarlo
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Ramona Blue
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever. Since then it's been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall, with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: She likes girls, she's fiercely devoted to her family, and she knows she's destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family.
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Where was this book ten years ago?
- By S. F. Wilson on 05-08-18
By: Julie Murphy
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The Last to Let Go
- By: Amber Smith
- Narrated by: Stephanie Einstein
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
How do you let go of something you've never had? Junior year for Brooke Winters is supposed to be about change. She's transferring schools, starting fresh, and making plans for college so she can finally leave her hometown, her family, and her past behind. But all of her dreams are shattered one hot summer afternoon when her mother is arrested for killing Brooke's abusive father. No one really knows what happened that day, if it was premeditated or self-defense, whether it was right or wrong. And now Brooke and her siblings are on their own.
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It's slow
- By Autumn S. on 09-05-18
By: Amber Smith
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Recommend with Slight Reservations
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MASTERPIECE of Poetic Prose, Outstanding Narration
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If Beale Street Could Talk
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Told through the eyes of Tish, a 19-year-old girl in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and is imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions - affection, despair, and hope.
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The narrator did her thing, I love it!!!
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Olga Dies Dreaming
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It’s 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo” are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular Congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s powerbrokers. Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the one percent, but she can’t seem to find her own...until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets.
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Funny, romantic, serious, substantial—all of these things and more
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What listeners say about The Book of Unknown Americans
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-18-18
Amazing. heart wrenching but so worth the listen.
loved it. heart wrenching towards the end and but so worth the listen. just wow.
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- Lucky Ducky
- 03-21-17
My Favorite Audible Book
Where does The Book of Unknown Americans rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is my favorite audible book.
Have you listened to any of Various’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I enjoy listening to the other voices and their various stories.
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- Karen
- 01-30-18
disappointing towards the end but overall good
What made the experience of listening to The Book of Unknown Americans the most enjoyable?
that i could listen anywhere i wanted
Would you recommend The Book of Unknown Americans to your friends? Why or why not?
yes definitely it is super efficient, you can do anything while listening to this audio version of the book
Which character – as performed by Various – was your favorite?
Mayor
Any additional comments?
the ending was not what i expected, it sucked!
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- Jennifer
- 10-28-15
Young Adult or Adult fiction
As a 45 year old mom of three, I enjoyed the overall story and the embedded short stories of "unknown" Americans that illuminates experienced of some migrants. The love story and much of the writing feels like it is written for young adults and teenagers. Enjoyable overall
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- Logan
- 01-20-15
A painful and beautiful story.
Narration was great. The story was told well and I loved each of the characters.
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Overall
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- Veronica
- 08-27-21
Wow beautiful
I could not stop this is a breath taking and such a beautiful story. I totally recommended to any one to share with family
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- Jus Me
- 12-01-20
Interesting perspective on the immigrant struggle
Enjoyed the Mayor Chapters the most. It is a good book. Interesting, but not extremely exciting. Be aware that it does have adult language.
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- Eli
- 05-21-19
bruh
bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh bruh. good book narrator is that the one you sent me
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- Janet G. Zinn
- 02-22-20
Beautiful
I loved the writing with clear narrative voices. It’s a beautiful story of an immigrant community from a number of distinct backgrounds
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- Eva Munoz
- 08-10-21
loved it
The performance for the different characters in this book were amazing. the book made me laugh and cry. great story!
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