So much happened in this book - and it all hits hard, a punch in the gut. First, I loved the way the book was set up - we followed a main few characters, interspersed with histories of all the other characters they meet along the way. It was the perfect way to introduce the many types of backgrounds that people have, backgrounds that you cannot see just by looking. That lack of insight applies not just to "Americans," making snap judgments about immigrants whose stories they have no idea about (many just as a reaction to other things out of their control, like Garret Miller). But also within the immigrant community, the already marginalized people, and how lack of knowledge and empathy for others can cause even more prejudice, like everyone's reactions to Maribel and Quisqueya and Rafa's judgments on the "Arabs" for 9/11. Beyond that, this is just an explorations of lives and experiences. A study of what people will do for their families and children, to find a "better life." This is particularly poignant in light of how we are now reacting to the Syrian refugee crisis - everyone should have to read this book, or something similar, in order to introduce even a sliver of understanding to their reactions. The hardships, faced on so many levels, even though they are thoughtfully portrayed here, are still just the surface of what this, and other, immigrant populations feel every day. I respect what the author has done, trying to elucidate and spread these experiences to a wider audience. Also, I think the central story, Maribel and Mayor, was sweet - and as if this book didn't already tackle enough difficult topics, the incorporation of the treatment of developmentally disabled people is added in. And though I do not have much personal experience there either, I feel like I felt many of the daily frustrations experienced there as well, both for the individual and the family. Although I feel like saying I enjoyed this book would be disingenuous, since I feel like that is just saying I was entertained for a few hours by other's plights, I do feel that my time spent reading this was well spent, and enlightening. I'd like to thank the author for what felt like a truthful presentation. And I can only hope that as we start to realize that the "paradise" we would like to see our country as, and what perhaps it may seem like to others, is one day more reflected in the reality of the daily experience here.