Kids' Multicultural Book Club

The CPAE Kids’ Multicultural Book Club starts this Saturday, hosted by College Park Community Library, 9704 Rhode Island Avenue. We will meet on Saturdays, Oct.19th and Nov.16th, from 10 – 11 am. Please contact info@cpae.org if your kid is interested in joining!

The first book we will read is “Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought For Her American Dream,” by Julissa Arce (Little, Brown, 2018; 226 pages).  This book is retold from the author’s bestselling book for grownups called “My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive” (2016, 305 pages).

“Someone Like Me” focuses on Julissa’s childhood in Mexico, and her family’s hopes and dreams, which led her mother to visit the United States to sell sterling silver jewelry produced in her hometown of Taxco, Mexico. Because her mother and father spend so much time in the U.S., Julissa longs to be with them, and eventually moves to San Antonio.  What she doesn’t understand are the consequences when her visa expires, so that she becomes undocumented.  She talks about what it feels like to be considered a criminal, or called “an illegal” or “an illegal alien.”   She also describes the hardships of her life, working to help support her family, her father’s descent into alcoholism, her dedication to school and to her studies, and how she succeeds in attending university. 

Julissa’s story is emotional and gripping to the reader, while the language remains clear and simple.  Adults may also be interested in reading the grownup version of her story and finding out more about her successful career on Wall Street, which “Someone Like Me” doesn’t explore. 

Julissa Arce left her career in finance behind to become an advocate for immigrants.  She is cofounder and chair of the Ascend Education Fund, and also works with the National Immigration Law Center. 

For Nov. 16,  the next book for the CPAE Kids’ Multicultural Book Club will be “The Birchbark House,” the first of a series of children’s fiction books by bestselling Native American author Louise Erdrich.  Please let us know if you are interested in attending the Book Club, or if you have any difficulty getting the book.