Where I belong

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher:
Carolrhoda Lab
Pub. Date:
2021
Language:
English
Lexile measure:
740L
Description
An immigrant teen fights for her family, her future, and the place she calls home. In the spring of 2018, Guatemalan American high school senior Milagros "Millie" Vargas knows her life is about to change. She's lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, ever since her parents sought asylum there when she was a baby. Now a citizen, Millie devotes herself to school and caring for her younger siblings while her mom works as a housekeeper for the wealthy Wheeler family. With college on the horizon, Millie is torn between attending her dream school and staying close to home, where she knows she's needed. She's disturbed by what's happening to asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, but she doesn't see herself as an activist or a change-maker. She's just trying to take care of her own family. Then Mr. Wheeler, a U.S. Senate candidate, mentions Millie's achievements in a campaign speech about "deserving" immigrants. It doesn't take long for people to identify Millie's family and place them at the center of a statewide immigration debate. Faced with journalists, trolls, anonymous threats, and the Wheelers' good intentions-especially those of Mr. Wheeler's son, Charlie-Millie must confront the complexity of her past, the uncertainty of her future, and her place in the country that she believed was home. "Cast into the political firestorm of an aspiring U.S. senator's campaign, a Guatemalan immigrant teen grapples with her newfound notoriety. It's the end of Milagros Vargas' senior year of high school in Corpus Christi, Texas. So far, aspiring marine biologist Millie's accepted a spot at Stanford, although her mom doesn't yet know this. As Millie became the second caretaker of her family after her father's death, her mom expanded her housekeeping job for the Wheelers, an affluent White family. For Millie, Mr. Wheeler's campaign for the U.S. Senate means her mom will be away from her family more, caring for the Wheelers' young daughter. Then, the senatorial candidate highlights Millie and her family as examples of exemplary immigrants during a campaign speech, resulting in public support as well as hostility from internet trolls and anonymous haters. When someone sets the Vargas home on fire, they have no choice but to accept the offer to temporarily move in with the Wheelers, even as Millie finds herself inexplicably drawn toward their son, Charlie. Setting her story against the backdrop of a nameless, anti-immigrant White House administration, Mickelson does a remarkable job of plunging into complex issues with tremendous nuance. Millie's acquired U.S. citizenship, after arriving as an undocumented asylum seeker, further complicates the discourse, raising stark questions around common debates about which immigrants 'deserve' to be welcomed. Full of thought-provoking conversations, messy answers, and lots of heart, this novel's a quiet knockout. Utterly compelling."-Kirkus Reviews
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More Details
ISBN:
9781541597976
9781728432274
9781666151473
Accelerated Reader:
UG
Level 4.9, 11 Points
Lexile measure:
740L
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID19994cbb-cf95-8661-8df0-f72a0f82f2e6
Grouping Titlewhere i belong
Grouping Authormarcia argueta mickelson
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-23 14:18:49PM
Last Indexed2024-03-27 23:14:02PM

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Gonzalez, Stacy
author
Mickelson, Marcia Argueta
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display_description
An immigrant teen fights for her family, her future, and the place she calls home. In the spring of 2018, Guatemalan American high school senior Milagros "Millie" Vargas knows her life is about to change. She's lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, ever since her parents sought asylum there when she was a baby. Now a citizen, Millie devotes herself to school and caring for her younger siblings while her mom works as a housekeeper for the wealthy Wheeler family. With college on the horizon, Millie is torn between attending her dream school and staying close to home, where she knows she's needed. She's disturbed by what's happening to asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, but she doesn't see herself as an activist or a change-maker. She's just trying to take care of her own family. Then Mr. Wheeler, a U.S. Senate candidate, mentions Millie's achievements in a campaign speech about "deserving" immigrants. It doesn't take long for people to identify Millie's family and place them at the center of a statewide immigration debate. Faced with journalists, trolls, anonymous threats, and the Wheelers' good intentions-especially those of Mr. Wheeler's son, Charlie-Millie must confront the complexity of her past, the uncertainty of her future, and her place in the country that she believed was home. "Cast into the political firestorm of an aspiring U.S. senator's campaign, a Guatemalan immigrant teen grapples with her newfound notoriety. It's the end of Milagros Vargas' senior year of high school in Corpus Christi, Texas. So far, aspiring marine biologist Millie's accepted a spot at Stanford, although her mom doesn't yet know this. As Millie became the second caretaker of her family after her father's death, her mom expanded her housekeeping job for the Wheelers, an affluent White family. For Millie, Mr. Wheeler's campaign for the U.S. Senate means her mom will be away from her family more, caring for the Wheelers' young daughter. Then, the senatorial candidate highlights Millie and her family as examples of exemplary immigrants during a campaign speech, resulting in public support as well as hostility from internet trolls and anonymous haters. When someone sets the Vargas home on fire, they have no choice but to accept the offer to temporarily move in with the Wheelers, even as Millie finds herself inexplicably drawn toward their son, Charlie. Setting her story against the backdrop of a nameless, anti-immigrant White House administration, Mickelson does a remarkable job of plunging into complex issues with tremendous nuance. Millie's acquired U.S. citizenship, after arriving as an undocumented asylum seeker, further complicates the discourse, raising stark questions around common debates about which immigrants 'deserve' to be welcomed. Full of thought-provoking conversations, messy answers, and lots of heart, this novel's a quiet knockout. Utterly compelling."-Kirkus Reviews
format_category_ml
Books
format_ml
Book
id
19994cbb-cf95-8661-8df0-f72a0f82f2e6
isbn
9781541597976
9781666151473
9781728432274
itype_ml
YA BOOK
last_indexed
2024-03-28T05:14:02.298Z
lexile_score
740
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YA Mickelson
owning_library_ml
Levi E. Coe Library
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Levi E. Coe Library
primary_isbn
9781541597976
publishDate
2021
publisher
Carolrhoda Lab
Lerner Publishing Group
Tantor Media, Inc
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Electronic books
Emigration and immigration -- Fiction
Families -- Texas -- Fiction
Fiction
Hispanic Americans -- Fiction
Immigrants -- Fiction
Multiculturalism -- Fiction
Racism -- Fiction
Romance fiction
Themes -- Fiction
Women -- Fiction
Young adult fiction -- Fiction
title_display
Where I belong
title_full
Where I Belong [electronic resource] / Marcia Argueta Mickelson
Where I belong / Marcia Argueta Mickelson
title_short
Where I belong
topic_facet
Electronic books
Emigration and immigration
Families
Hispanic Americans
Immigrants
Multiculturalism
Racism
Themes
Women
Young adult fiction

Solr Details Tables

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record_details

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hoopla:MWT14339239eBookeBookEnglishLerner Publishing Group20211 online resource (264 pages)

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