Indivisible

What worked: This story gave me lots of feels. As a former bilingual teacher, I had former students like Mateo and Sophie. INDIVISIBLE gives a voice to what many undocumented families endure in our country right now. It's an important story that needs to be told.

Mateo's portrayal as the teen with dreams of going to college and being an actor is very realistic, but more so are his reactions to the news that his parents are picked up by ICE and then later deported. The author nails the emotions that go through Mateo and all he has to do once his parents are sent back to Mexico. Also real are the interactions between Mateo and his younger sister Sophie. Her sadness and then anger reminded me so much of one former student I had who had to leave the country. Kuddos to Aleman for his realistic portrayal of the pain that undocumented families go through when broken up by ICE.

Gripping, raw, but also this novel shows hope and the power of community that comes together during a crisis.

A true portrayal of the immigration crisis our country faces and how undocumented families are people and not illegals(I hate that term so much). INDIVISIBLE needs to be in high school libraries. Its story is real. The stories of those affected by this crisis need to be heard.

Indivisible is a raw and heart wrenching story, one that is important for everyone to read . It is a fantastic book about immigration, family, friends, racism, and strength of the human spirit.

Indivisible is an immersive read where the reader feels every emotion with each turn of the page. I caught myself tearing up throughout the book and I am sure I’m not the only one. My heart broke for Matteo and Sophie. Life throws them hard punches with ever turn and they keep getting knocked down again and again. The writing made me feel every heartbreak, every feeling of loneliness, every sensation of anxiety. It’s hard not to emotionally connect with Matteo while he is trying to navigate school,family, helping his little sister, and his friends. It’s hard not to feel the sweat on your palms and the heart beat pounding with every knock on Matteo’s door, each phone call, each new question that pops up.

Indivisible is an excellent way to explore the immigration system, undocumented immigrants, and the American society in all its nuances. The story goes to the heart of the issues and puts people front and center.

This is a must read. Highly recommend.

INDIVISIBLE is a heartfelt and riveting YA contemporary about family, feeling different, and immigration in the US. Mateo is a 16-year-old boy who dreams about being on Broadway. He helps his parents out at their bodega and spends a lot of time studying for school and the SATs, because he knows he wants to go to Tisch at NYU.

One day when working at the bodega, ICE agents show up looking for his father. Mateo knows his parents are undocumented, and this has always been a fear in the back of his mind - even though they have been in the US since they were 21 (his mother) and 17 (his father). When they leave and the family doesn't see them again for a week, they feel like they are in the clear. However, after Mateo comes home from school one day, he finds his parents gone, detained by ICE in separate facilities.

Suddenly, Mateo has to take care of his little sister, Sophie, who is also scared and upset, and think of the bodega while also worrying about what he can do to help his parents fight their case to stay in the US - the place where they have become part of the fabric of the country.

What I loved: This book was absolutely riveting and completely pulled me into Mateo's story. The writing pulls the reader in, and it was definitely a very emotional read. I appreciate the way we are shown the pervasive fear and feeling of being different that Mateo faces when interacting with his classmates and close friends. The immigration system and mechanisms for undocumented immigrants can be really terrible, and the book exposes these difficulties by providing a (fictional) face for the stories that might be heard on the news.

I absolutely cried while reading this book - the hopelessness and the challenges of trying to fight the system and then to also decide how to divide the family and how much to lean on others was conveyed really beautifully. Mateo faces a lot of struggles in the book, and I was completely pulled into his emotions and life. The themes about family, friends, immigration, the definition of strength, and racism (particularly faced by his sister in school) were really powerful, and this would make a great book club or classroom read.

Final verdict: Immersive, heartfelt, and well-written, INDIVISIBLE is a fantastic YA contemporary read about immigration, family, and perseverance. Highly recommend whether read alone or in classroom or book club settings.