Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

New Jersey

This unforgettable memoir from a prize-winning poet about growing up undocumented in the United States recounts the sorrows and joys of a family torn apart by draconian policies and chronicles one young man's attempt to build a future in a nation that denies his existence. "You were not a ghost even though an entire country was scared of you. No one in this story was a ghost. This was not a story." When Marcelo Hernandez Castillo was five years old and his family was preparing to cross the border between Mexico and the United States, he suffered temporary, stress-induced blindness. Castillo regained his vision, but quickly understood that he had to move into a threshold of invisibility before settling in California with his parents and siblings. Thus began a new life of hiding in plain sight and of paying extraordinarily careful attention at all times for fear of being truly seen. Before Castillo was one of the most celebrated poets of a generation, he was a boy who perfected his English in the hopes that he might never seem extraordinary. With beauty, grace, and honesty, Castillo recounts his and his family's encounters with a system that treats them as criminals for seeking safe, ordinary lives. He writes of the Sunday afternoon when he opened the door to an ICE officer who had one hand on his holster, of the hours he spent making a fake social security card so that he could work to support his family, of his father's deportation and the decade that he spent waiting to return to his wife and children only to be denied reentry, and of his mother's heartbreaking decision to leave her children and grandchildren so that she could be reunited with her estranged husband and retire from a life of hard labor. Children of the Land distills the trauma of displacement, illuminates the human lives behind the headlines and serves as a stunning meditation on what it means to be a man and a citizen.

Children of the Land

696d2395-78fc-4277-ade5-050dbd4c15de-1

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Michigan

A Memoir

An Entertainment Weekly, The Millions, and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2020 This unforgettable memoir from a prize-winning poet about growing up undocumented in the United States recounts the sorrows and joys of a family torn apart by draconian policies and chronicles one young man's attempt to build a future in a nation that denies his existence. "You were not a ghost even though an entire country was scared of you. No one in this story was a ghost. This was not a story." When Marcelo Hernandez Castillo was five years old and his family was preparing to cross the border between Mexico and the United States, he suffered temporary, stress-induced blindness. Castillo regained his vision, but quickly understood that he had to move into a threshold of invisibility before settling in California with his parents and siblings. Thus began a new life of hiding in plain sight and of paying extraordinarily careful attention at all times for fear of being truly seen. Before Castillo was one of the most celebrated poets of a generation, he was a boy who perfected his English in the hopes that he might never seem extraordinary. With beauty, grace, and honesty, Castillo recounts his and his family's encounters with a system that treats them as criminals for seeking safe, ordinary lives. He writes of the Sunday afternoon when he opened the door to an ICE officer who had one hand on his holster, of the hours he spent making a fake social security card so that he could work to support his family, of his father's deportation and the decade that he spent waiting to return to his wife and children only to be denied reentry, and of his mother's heartbreaking decision to leave her children and grandchildren so that she could be reunited with her estranged husband and retire from a life of hard labor. Children of the Land distills the trauma of displacement, illuminates the human lives behind the headlines and serves as a stunning meditation on what it means to be a man and a citizen.

Perfect condition except for a very small black line against the bottom page edges (see photo)

South Carolina

Iowa

Pennsylvania

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Massachusetts

#nonfiction #paperback #childrenoftheland #memoir 

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

North Carolina

Esther Lin

Janine Joseph

Illinois

Poetry and Prose from the Undocumented Diaspora

A lush tapestry of poetry created by undocumented and undocu-adjacent writers, Undocupoetics is an invitation to be a part of an integral component of contemporary American poetry. "As a poet of African descent, I understand what it means to belong to two places at once. But I also understand what it means to be deserted by one as a result of the distance created by involuntary migration and displaced by one because of draconian laws. My sense of identity flows through my verse: through it I am coping, overcoming, surviving, and reaching joy. More than anything, poetry is an act of service for self-actualization and freedom."--an anonymous undocumented contributor From the indomitable writers and activists Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Janine Joseph, and Esther Lin comes an anthology gathering some of the best work from undocumented or undocu-adjacent writers from across the undocumented diaspora. Here to Stay is a collection of 90 honest, heartfelt, searing, and evocative poems interspersed with short personal narratives, as culturally rich and diverse as the American quilt. Deeply intimate, these works explore what it means to exist in the liminal space between the familiar and the unknown, between past and future. Highlighting the significant talents of undocumented writers, this brilliant anthology challenges misconceptions of what it means to write and exist as an undocumented person in modern America. Beautiful, poignant, and timely, this must-read collection is a rich and important new chapter in the ongoing story of the eclectic immigrant experience and the United States itself.

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Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Esther Lin; Marcelo Hernandez Castillo; Janine Joseph

Here to Stay

Esther Lin; Marcelo Hernandez Castillo; Janine Joseph

Here to Stay

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo; Brenda Shaughnessy

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Save this search

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Children of the Land

Esther Lin; Marcelo Hernandez Castillo; Janine Joseph

Here to Stay

Esther Lin; Marcelo Hernandez Castillo; Janine Joseph

Here to Stay

Marcelo Hernandez Castillo; Brenda Shaughnessy

Cenzontle