The book of Isaias : a child of Hispanic immigrants seeks his own America

**FIRST PLACE for the Best Political/Current Affairs Book, International Latino Book Awards 2017** **One of Southern Living 's Best Books of 2016** **OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2017 Social Justice Book List published by The National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) • Boston Public Library Latino Life Booklist • Chicago Public Library Hispanic Heritage Month Booklist • Books for Welcoming Week by King County Library System (Washington State)** A fast-paced nonfiction narrative that will help you understand today's immigration battles 18-year-old high school senior Isaias Ramos plays in a punk rock group called Los Psychosis and likes to sing along to songs by Björk and her old band, the Sugarcubes. He’s so bright that when his school’s quiz bowl goes on local TV, he acts as captain. The counselors at school want him to apply to Harvard. But Isaias isn’t so sure. He's thinking about going to work painting houses with his parents, who crossed the Arizona desert illegally from Mexico. Despite the obstacles and his own doubts, Isaias sets out on the journey to become the first in his family to go to college. He faces make-or-break standardized testing, immigration bureaucracy and absurdly high college costs. And most importantly, the siren song of doubt. This simple story reflects broader truths. Mexican immigration has brought the proportion of Hispanics in the nation’s youth population to roughly one in four. Every day, children of immigrants make decisions about their lives that will shape our society and economy for generations. In the tradition of Friday Night Lights and A Hope in the Unseen , this deeply human narrative offers a powerful antidote to the heated political rhetoric about immigrants and their children. **FIRST PLACE for the Best Political/Current Affairs Book, International Latino Book Awards 2017** **One of Southern Living 's Best Books of 2016** **OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2017 Social Justice Book List published by The National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) Boston Public Library Latino Life Booklist Chicago Public Library Hispanic Heritage Month Booklist Books for Welcoming Week by King County Library System (Washington State)** A fast-paced nonfiction narrative that will help you understand today's immigration battles 18-year-old high school senior Isaias Ramos plays in a punk rock group called Los Psychosis and likes to sing along to songs by Björk and her old band, the Sugarcubes. He's so bright that when his school's quiz bowl goes on local TV, he acts as captain. The counselors at school want him to apply to Harvard. But Isaias isn't so sure. He's thinking about going to work painting houses with his parents, who crossed the Arizona desert illegally from Mexico. Despite the obstacles and his own doubts, Isaias sets out on the journey to become the first in his family to go to college. He faces make-or-break standardized testing, immigration bureaucracy and absurdly high college costs. And most importantly, the siren song of doubt. This simple story reflects broader truths. Mexican immigration has brought the proportion of Hispanics in the nation's youth population to roughly one in four. Every day, children of immigrants make decisions about their lives that will shape our society and economy for generations. In the tradition of Friday Night Lights and A Hope in the Unseen , this deeply human narrative offers a powerful antidote to the heated political rhetoric about immigrants and their children. "In a green town in the middle of America, a bright 18-year-old Hispanic student named Isaias Ramos sets out on the journey to college. Isaias, who passed a prestigious national calculus test as a junior and leads the quiz bowl team, is the hope of Kingsbury High in Memphis, a school where many students have difficulty reading. But Kingsbury's dysfunction, expensive college fees, and forms printed in a language that's foreign to his parents are all obstacles in the way of getting him to a university. Isaias also doubts the value of college and says he might go to work in his family's painting business after high school, despite his academic potential. Is Isaias making a rational choice? Or does he simply hope to avoid pain by deferring dreams that may not come to fruition? This is what journalist Daniel Connolly attempts to uncover in The Book of Isaias as he follows Isaias, peers into a tumultuous final year of high school, and, eventually, shows how adults intervene in the hopes of changing Isaias' life. Mexican immigration has brought the proportion of Hispanics in the nation's youth population to roughly one in four. Every day, children of immigrants make decisions about their lives that will shape our society and economy for generations. In the tradition of Friday Night Lights and A Hope in the Unseen, this engaging, poignant book captures an American microcosm and illustrates broader challenges for our collective future"-- Provided by publisher Title Page......Page 3 Copyright Notice......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Prologue: Gold in a Green Town......Page 7 One: Chaos and Hope......Page 35 Two: Outclassed......Page 58 Three: Rain......Page 74 Four: A Deck of Cards......Page 94 Five: Horse to Water......Page 103 Six: Motivation......Page 131 Seven: Intervention......Page 154 Eight: Bianca the Guide......Page 171 Nine: A Funeral in Mexico......Page 182 Ten: Victory......Page 199 Eleven: A Locked Door......Page 205 Twelve: Dustin’s Destiny......Page 213 Epilogue......Page 225 Acknowledgments......Page 230 Notes: Prologue......Page 234 Notes 1......Page 238 Notes 2......Page 240 Notes 3......Page 241 Notes 4......Page 242 Notes 5......Page 243 Notes 6......Page 245 Notes 7......Page 246 Notes 8......Page 248 Notes 9......Page 249 Notes 10......Page 250 Notes 11......Page 251 Notes 12......Page 252 Notes: Epilogue......Page 253 About the Author......Page 254 Newsletter Sign-up......Page 255 Copyright......Page 257 Follows a bright, sports-loving, and musically talented Hispanic teenager as he juggles commitments to work, school, and his unauthorized immigrant parents, while he applies to colleges and contemplates his future