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There are currently 27 member reviews
for Make Your Home Among Strangers
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Dorothy M. (Maynard, MA)
A Hard Look at Assimilation in America
Homogenous America with all it's fast food outlets across the country sometimes conceals the cultural differences that still exist when you leave the highway and look at what happens in homes and families. Lizet is the daughter of Cuban immigrants living in Miami who manages to be admitted to an exclusive college in New York - without her parents knowledge or approval. What she doesn't know is how lost she will feel in this new culture or how pained she will be at leaving behind her parents whose unhappy marriage has dissolved, her sister who is living with the consequences of a very bad life choice, or her high school boy friend who is certain that she will marry him. When she faces the possibility of failure in this new environment and has to deal with her mother becoming obsessed with the fate of an emigrant boy (clearly based on the Elian Gonzales case), she has to make some very difficult choices on who she will be and what she is willing to give up. An interesting look at how difficult it is to move from where you grew up that doesn't sugar coat the costs.
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Robin M. (Newark, DE)
Home Among Strangers--A Search to Belong
It took me a while to read this book, but it was worth my time. Crucet's writing style is pleasant, but I found myself wanting more dialogue and less narrative. I think the book would be a great read for high school seniors and college freshmen, part of the curriculum of a Literature or Sociology class.
I am considering recommending it to my book club after it's published.
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Betsy R. (Gig Harbor, WA)
Make Your Home Among Strangers
This debut novel works on many levels. It centers around a young Cuban girl named Lizet who leaves Miami to attend an exclusive and expensive college in New York. Not only is her culture shock severe, she also has to deal with repercussions from her Miami family. The book does an excellent job of describing the first year of college for anyone who feels like they don't fit in right away also-the fears, the mistakes, the relationships. I enjoyed the book very much and look forward to seeing what this author writes next.
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Amy D. (Atlanta, GA)
A great reminder of life at 19
As I watch my own children and many friends head off to college, this was a great read that touched on many of the things I have been thinking about. It reminded my of the challenges and insecurities we all had at that age, as well as the extra challenges for those who find college a very different community than that they grew up in. I appreciated the chance to get into Lizet's head and experience life as she does. So different than my regular day. The parallel plot of the young child rescued trying to get to the U.S. from Cuba, (largely based on the real life experience of Elian Gonzalez) proved a great counterpoint to Lizet's experience traveling from Miami to a fictional eastern college. A treat to see the world through her eyes.
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Missie S. (Chilhowie, VA)
Culturally Speaking
I enjoyed reading Make Your Home Among Strangers, I enjoyed it very much actually. It is not something I would have chosen for myself, however, I am glad I had the opportunity. Thank you for choosing me. I was impressed with Lizet's confidence and drive. The story is told with detail and insight into the Cuban culture and the struggles of divorce, class, and being a minority.
I would recommend this book for a book club selection and for high school students.
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Nicole
Torn Between Two Worlds
This book makes me uncomfortable. Lizet (Liz) is a college student at an elite school. But unlike many of the other students, she finds her self ill-prepared for the academics, the class differences, and how it changes her. When she returns home, she finds that her family is obsessed with a Cuban child who boated to America (also caught between two worlds). The reader gets a first hand look at how terrible, uncomfortable, and unmoored it feels to be someone who wants to belong and yet feels alien wherever she is.
The book was fast paced and the narrator was someone for whom you cheer! I enjoyed the book, but at times felt so sad that I had to put it down. I guess that's the mark of a good read? Right?!
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Susan B. (Rutledge, MO)
painful at times, but worth it
I was quite affected by this book, and glad I read it. The similarities to my own experience were often painful to read, but also affirming. Even more painful was witnessing the main character's cultural "clash of worlds" in Miami during the thinly-fictionalized Elian Gonzales affair. I am not Cuban American, nor from the same level of poverty as the main character, but I was the first person in my family to go to college, and to a "fancy" school that no one in my family had ever even heard of. The parts I didn't relate to as closely were sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes infuriating, rather like watching someone driving very slowly off a cliff. The fact that I more than once found myself screaming at the character in my head, "Why would you do that?!" made clear to me how deeply this book hit me.
