The Things We Didn't Know
by Elba Iris Pérez
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER
The USA TODAY bestselling inaugural winner of Simon & Schuster's Books Like Us contest, Elba Iris Pérez's lyrical and "wonderfully compelling" (Judith Simon Prager, author of What the Dolphin Said) cross-cultural coming-of-age debut novel explores a young girl's childhood between 1950s Puerto Rico and a small Massachusetts factory town.
Andrea Rodrguez is nine years old when her mother whisks her and her brother, Pablo, away from Woronoco, the tiny Massachusetts factory town that is the only home they've known. With no plan and no money, she leaves them with family in the mountainside villages of Puerto Rico and promises to return.
Months later, when Andrea and Pablo are brought back to Massachusetts, they find their hometown significantly changed. As they navigate the rifts between their family's values and all-American culture and face the harsh realities of growing up, they must embrace both the triumphs and heartache that mark the journey to adulthood.
A heartfelt, evocative portrait that "breathes with narrative magic" (Harry Youtt, poet and author of I'm Never Not Thinking of You), The Things We Didn't Know establishes Elba Iris Pérez as a sensational new literary voice.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781668012079
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Elba Iris Pérez
- Publisher
- Gallery Books
- Published Date
- January 7, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 336
- Physical Info
- 8.2 in L x 5.34 in W (0.56 lb)
The book was uneven, but I was immersed in the life of a family from PR. I loved the characters and the feel of a loving family trying to make a new start in a mill town in Massachusetts.
Found this book boring, not particularly well written. Would not recommend. Unfortunately this is our book club selection for September😕
I enjoyed watching this family struggle, survive, grow up, thrive, struggle, and get back up. Coming of age with historical notes of the Puerto Rican working class poor. Thank you!
What an amazing novel. I can hardly believe it’s a debut for this author! If you can listen to it on audiobook, please do. It’s been so long since a book has moved me in this way. Every character was perfectly written.
I learned much about the Puertorican community in the US. The characters were well described. There was so much description about the food,people and surroundings that you couldn’t help but to be drawn through the story.
