The Theme Of The Book Of Unknown Americans By Christina Henriquez

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In, “The Book of Unknown Americans” by Christina Henriquez, the central theme projected by

the author is the harmful impacts of stereotypes on the experiences of immigrants. The

Toro and Rivera families are similar in that they are first-generation Americans. With this, they

are constantly subject to violent stereotypes. Mayor toro, the youngest son of the Toro family,

regularly found himself at the forefront of racial aggression, “I turned around and saw Garret

Miller grinning at me...’[I’m] going home,’ I said. ‘Back to Mexico?’ ‘I’m not from Mexico.’ ‘My

dad says all you people are from Mexico’”(Henriquez 69). Though Mayor is only in high school

peoples’ view of him is limited to his falsely identified ethnicity. Without taking the