Indivisible

By: Daniel Aleman

Narrated by: Adan Rocha

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

This timely, moving debut novel follows a teen's efforts to keep his family together as his parents face deportation.

Mateo Garcia and his younger sister, Sophie, have been taught to fear one word for as long as they can remember: deportation. Over the past few years, however, the fear that their undocumented immigrant parents could be sent back to Mexico has started to fade. Ma and Pa have been in the United States for so long, they have American-born children, and they're hard workers and good neighbors. When Mateo returns from school one day to find that his parents have been taken by ICE, he realizes that his family's worst nightmare has become a reality. With his parents' fate and his own future hanging in the balance, Mateo must figure out who he is and what he is capable of, even as he's forced to question what it means to be an American.

Daniel Aleman's Indivisible is a remarkable story - both powerful in its explorations of immigration in America and deeply intimate in its portrait of a teen boy driven by his fierce, protective love for his parents and his sister.

©2021 Daniel Aleman (P)2021 Little, Brown Young Readers

Critic reviews

"Indivisible is a powerful story about family, friendship, and home. In a world divided by so many labels, this story is a reminder that there are no boundaries for love. It shines a light on the difficult choices people make for their family and community, and reminds us that each family is a little world. Mateo, Sophie, and their parents are now part of my heart." (Yamile Saied Méndez, author of Pura Belpré Inaugural YA Award winner Furia)

"Indivisible is a deeply moving tribute to those caught between two worlds in the immigration crisis in America - a potent reminder that no human being is illegal, and that hundreds of thousands of children in this situation are forced to grow up too quickly. Although this is fiction, it’s far too real." (Jodi Picoult, number one New York Times best-selling author of The Book of Two Ways)

“As heart-wrenching a tale as it is, Indivisible is also a heartening tribute to the power and endurance of familial love." (Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost and North of Happy)

Everyone needs to read this book.

Enjoyed it very much. A story everyone should read. Thank you so much, Daniel. Peace.

Super cute. Super Necessary.

I want more. I’m in love with Mateo and his world. I’d binge what could still come in their stories on Netflix. Adan Rocha’s narration is the best character fit of any audible I’ve heard.

Moving story!

This story, full of family love, friendships and heartbreak really kept me listening. I cared about the well-developed characters and wanted to know how their story would end. I love how it dealt with themes of immigration, but also of friendship and the commitments we make to one another, and there was also a bit about teen romance. I liked how the main character Mateo, a Mexican-American, was best friends with a Korean and an Anglo. All the characters were cast in positive, complex roles.

A small window

This book gives you a small window into how many families are being put through the ringer in our country. It also does a beautiful job at showing how these same families all continue to grow stronger and hopeful for a better day.

Lots of potential, but ultimately fell short for me

An interesting story and concept told from a perspective that you don't get to hear from commonly.

Still, the story felt needlessly bloated as it meandered along with elements that felt like pure filler. You could easily cut 4 hours from this story without the story itself suffering. Some of the conflicts between characters felt forced and unearned, and the writing style was overly melodramatic that had me rolling my eyes. Parts the story felt like a slog to get through.