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Customer Reviews of America's Dream

A real page turner!
America's Dream is one of the best books I've read in a while. Esmeralda has done it again. The descriptions, customs, curiosity found in this book make you feel like your watching a moving rather than reading a book. You can almost feel the Vieques breeze. Domestic violence is a terrible social problem plaguing our society today, especially among Latina women. In our mothers time perhaps, this subject was unspoken. But today, I hope, Hispanic women are breaking free from the chains of domestic violence. I hope this book gives inspiration to my Latina sisters to end the cycle of abuse! Thank you Esmeralda for handling such a sensitive subject, with care and sensitivity!

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This is a fantastic book
Reading "America's dream" brought me back to Puerto Rico. I can certainly relate to not coping well to my first American winter, after years in the run. Reading how America, after a long-term, damaging relationship, decides that "it is her life, and she is the one in the middle of it" is an inspiration to me. The best developed character is America, of course. Other characters, although not so well defined, by turns influence America's life: Karen Leverett, the woman who hires America to care for her children; Rosalinda, America's rebellious 14-year old; Ester, America's alcoholic mother; and Correa, the abusive lover and father of Rosalinda. Jo-Hanna Goettsche, Everett. WA

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America's Dream
When I picked up this book I had no intention of ever finishing it. I thought I would read it for the twenty minuets I was required to, and later find a book I actually wanted to read. I couldn't put this book down.
America's Dream is about a woman from Puerto Rico that has been stepped on all her life. Her mother is an alcoholic that is constantly nagging at her. Her daughter hates her and would love nothing more then to leave her forever. And her "man" lives by the old rule that a man should control a woman. So when she gets the chance to leave for a better life she takes it.
What I liked about this book is that I could have totally mixed emotions about the same character. I started off feeling sorry for America, but at the same time a bit aggravated with her. I felt bad that she had to put up with such bad abuse from those that loved her. But at the same time I wanted her to change it and stand up for herself. I also enjoyed the detail that the author went into. I could see everything so vividly, I felt like I was in Puerto Rico.
The only thing that I didn't enjoy was how stereotypical the book was. All the white people seemed stuck up, and all the Latinos were nannies and had very little education. Looking back now I realize that the author did it to separate them into their own "worlds." And to show the extreme differences in their cultures and how they live their everyday lives. But to me it made the people seem ignorant.