Dream Things True

De: Marie Marquardt

Narrado por: Almarie Guerra

Evan, a soccer star and the nephew of a conservative Southern senator, has never wanted for much - except a functional family. Alma has lived in Georgia since she was two years old, excels in school, and has a large, warm Mexican family. Never mind their differences, the two fall in love, and they fall hard. But when ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) begins raids on their town, Alma knows that she needs to tell Evan her secret. There's too much at stake. But how to tell her country-club boyfriend that she's an undocumented immigrant? That her whole family and most of her friends live in the country without permission? What follows is a beautiful, nuanced, well-paced exploration of the complications of immigration, young love, defying one's family, and facing a tangled bureaucracy that threatens to completely upend two young lives.

©2015 Marie Marquardt (P)2015 Recorded Books

Is this really her first book?

What made the experience of listening to Dream Things True the most enjoyable?

If this is a first book, it's very, very good. I could feel the anxiety and intense fear of the characters. The story moved along at a good pace and the lives of the people were believable.

What other book might you compare Dream Things True to and why?

While one could call it a coming of age story, it really is unlike other stories in that the mixture of the cultures creates a different level of teen-age angst.

Have you listened to any of Almarie Guerra’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not heard her read other books, but she did a fantastic job with this one.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listen to books from home to work and back again. I looked forward to getting into the car so that I could continue with the story. I could have listened at home - but I wanted to enjoy the book without interruption.

Any additional comments?

Good story, unexpected levels of tension and interaction. Congratulations on a great book.

A passionate, moving book.

Dream Things True really touched me, and as someone who lives in Gainesville, GA, I recognized many of the places described here. This book hooked me from the first sentence and I was finished in three days. The author is ambitious and big-hearted, and I like that she is not afraid to let characters be complex and endings ambiguous. She has compassion for her characters, even the ones a reader might be tempted to condemn, and this compassion pervades every page of the book. You will be a better person for reading Dream Things True. Bottom line, if you are considering this book, and you have already read this far in the review, go for it.

young readers will find this interesting

I learned a lot about immigration laws. I would recommend this book to middle or high school students.