Displaying 1 of 1 2011 Format: Book Author: Palacio, Melinda. Title: Ocotillo dreams / Melinda Palacio. Publisher, Date: Tempe, Arizona : Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, [2011] ©2011 Description: x, 188 pages ; 22 cm Subjects: Noncitizens -- Arizona -- Fiction. Emigration and immigration -- Political aspects -- United States -- Fiction. Mothers and daughters -- Fiction. Mexican Americans -- Race identity -- Fiction. Chandler (Ariz.) -- Fiction. Illegal immigration -- Arizona -- Fiction. LCCN: 2011005542 ISBN: 9781931010757 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1931010757 (hardcover : alk. paper) 9781931010764 (soft cover : alk. paper) 1931010765 (soft cover : alk. paper) Other Number: 701622866 System Availability: 2 # System items in: 2 # Local items: 2 # Local items in: 2 Current Holds: 0 Place Request Add to My List Expand All | Collapse All Availability Large Cover Image Trade Reviews Publishers Weekly ReviewAccomplished poet Palacio seamlessly transitions to fiction in her debut novel about identity, stereotypes, and prejudice in a Phoenix suburb. Isola leaves her San Francisco home and university community to claim the house in Chandler, Ariz., she inherited after her mother's death. Long estranged, Isola is unfamiliar with her mother's life, except for a monthly postcard of a blooming ocotillo cactus that proclaimed dreams came true in Chandler. Isola is startled to find a man, Cruz, asleep in the kitchen, whom she learns he knew her mother well and was one of many undocumented immigrants her mother (as a part of her work with Rescate Angeles) had helped cross the border, learn English, and find work. Additional surprises await Isola when new visitors arrive, slowly revealing the mother she never really knew. Polacio's poet's eye reveals a vibrantly painted desert culture of fragile beauty and uncompromising harshness. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Summary Set in Chandler, Arizona, during the city's infamous 1997 migrant sweeps, Ocotillo Dreams is no run-of-the-mill border tale. In her captivating first novel, Melinda Palacio skillfully weaves a story of politics, intrigue, love, and trust. Isola, a young woman who inherits her mother's Chandler home, relocates from California only to find that her mother had lived a secret life of helping undocumented immigrants. Isola must confront her own confusion and sense of loyalty in a strange and hostile environment. As she gets to know her mother from clues left behind, she grapples with questions of identity and belonging that eventually lead her to explore her life's meaning and to reconnect with her roots. Librarian's View Syndetics Unbound Displaying 1 of 1
