Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2017: Read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative. In addition to fitting this challenge (it is both: author Ibi Zoboi is an immigrant from Haiti, and so is her main character, Fabiola), this book has been getting a ton of buzz. I found it to be a captivating page-turner -- one of those rare books I read even at breakfast when I'm barely awake. Fabiola and her mother come to Detroit to live with her aunt -- but her mother is detained at customs in New Jersey. All of her adjustments to her new life (the cold, the food, the language, the school and family politics, untrustworthy adults, racism, poverty, drugs, violence, first love) are navigated without her beloved mother. 
 Perhaps most striking is the disillusionment on both sides: Fabiola thought her cousins had the good life, with money and safety in the U.S., and they thought she had the good life, lounging on the beach in Haiti. Both discover the pros and cons of each life. Is there really an American Dream? Fabiola is naive and smart and faithful and brave as she navigates her new world. It was especially interesting to read about the Vodou culture (not voodoo dolls, as Fabiola explains) that she grew up with and keeps as her spiritual grounding even when it's not understood by anyone. I also liked the casual acceptance of Pri liking girls -- a strong character whose being LGBT was not the point of the story. Be sure to read the Author's Note at the end for additional insight into the creation of the story. 
 Favorite quotes: 
 "Manman will not believe me when I tell her that I am hungrier here than I ever was in Port-au-Prince. Not from a lack of food, but from a lack of willing and able cooks." 
 "She wasn't in pain, but she was tired of fighting. Everything about Port-au-Prince was a fight." 
 "They not only have to protect their bodies, but they have to protect their name and their story." 
 "In Haiti, with all its problems, there was always a friend or neighbor to share in the misery. And then, after all our troubles were tallied up like those points at the basketball game, we would celebrate being alive."