Publisher's Synopsis
Thousands of immigrants enter the United States illegally every year. Are they dreamers in search of a better opportunity? Or are they parasites who are stealing jobs from hard-working Americans? Sam and Diego are on opposite extremes of this polarizing debate. Sam, a middle-class Caucasian from Michigan, blames illegal immigrants for taking his father's job and ripping his family apart. Diego, an orphan of Mexican descent, blames the system for the grim fate his family met when they crossed the border before his birth and the cruel separation of his family. Diego is chasing the American dream. Sam is trying to protect it. Diego struggles through foster homes, abuse and persecution on his way to adulthood. Sam battles personal demons and alcoholism as he strives to do what's right. They couldn't be more different, and yet their fates are intertwined. In a novel that spans two decades and stretches from Michigan to California to the U.S.-Mexico border, author Yitao Jeffrey Ding uses the stories of Sam and Diego to explore the vital issues of modern American life: immigration, politics, racism, money, family, fear. Along the way, readers must face some of the defining questions of our time: Are we all just products of our circumstances? Will authority figures always excessively wield their power? When anger and resentment simmer, are they bound to boil over eventually? Is there an end to our toxic cycle of blame?
