NPR Favorite Books of 2019
Library Journal Best Books of 2019
Amazon bestseller
“riveting…a bruising critique of colonialism”
—NPR (featured on Morning Edition)
“heartfelt, galvanizing…a coming-of-age story of an ambitious, whip-smart daughter getting to know herself better as her Old World father comes into clearer view”
—San Francisco Chronicle (cover story)
"among the finest memoirs written in recent decades—a heartbreaking, hilarious and tender love letter…a vivid, almost cinematic journey that is both beautiful and unforgettable"
—Guy Raz, co-creator of How I Built This, TED Radio Hour
“one of the things about [this] book that I so love is that [Shahani] is so honest about the whole range of emotions…resentment…shame…”
—Michel Martin, Amanpour & Company
“searing, searching”
—Ezra Klein, founder, Vox
"Easily one of the best books I have read in decades!...[It] is simply an essential view of America that most people who live in the US never see or experience. In my opinion, this should be Educated or Just Mercy level popular and influential."
—Tom Rath, NYT #1 Bestselling Author
“You know the feeling you get when you read or watch a great story, and then afterwards, at random moments, you feel as if you’re still living in the story? That’s how I’ve felt, ever since reading [this memoir]…I highly recommend!”
—Susan Cain, NYT Bestselling Author (7 years on best seller list), TED Speaker (26 million + views)
“Incredible debut…It’s been a while since I’ve read a biography with such breadth, from the intensely personal to a most relevant and infuriating political survey. It’s a story about immigrant experience, being brown in New York City in the golden age of hip-hop, and the ‘multiethnic soul’ of Queens. Turn the page and you’re dropped into the drug war, soon shell shocked by a banality of cruelty and the generational terror of its machinery. Also, kidnapping. And most sincerely, family.”
—Ricardo Cortes, Author & Illustrator, #1 Amazon Bestseller Go the F*ck to Sleep
“eloquent and inspiring…a deeply moving story about deportation, father-daughter relationships, love, and redemption”
—Dr. Vivek Murthy, Former Surgeon General of U.S.
"clear-eyed and compulsively readable"
—Shelf Awareness
"timely, bittersweet"
—Publishers Weekly
“thought-provoking and thoroughly engrossing”
—Library Journal, starred review
"provocative…candid and moving"
—Kirkus
"a raw and engaging glimpse into the challenges immigrant families face that are either too traumatic or mundane to land on the news"
—BookPage
On the audiobook: “read exceptionally well by Shahani…including seamlessly shifting between English and the multiple languages her family speaks…gripping”
—AudioFile Magazine
