Review Detail

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.