Diane describes her upbringing, being raised in Boston by her parents and older brother. When she is 14 her parents are deported to Colombia when it was discovered that they were living here undocumented.

Diane lives with other family members and friends as she attends a high school that emphasizes the arts. She gets admitted to an all women’s college and falls into despair.

Although she visits her family in Colombia, her parents divorce, and she feels abandoned as well as unable to tell anyone her story.

She becomes depressed, worries about her family and money. She cuts and tries to take her life.

She pursues her dreams of singing and acting. She details her big break in the role of Maritza on Orange is the New Black.

4 because I feel that kids can relate to her writing style. A heart-wrenching biography regarding immigration and what occurs to the families in real life. An appropriate read for the current times. Middle school.

Battle book. Her story was heartbreaking and definitely brings light to the immigration issues in the US.

Liked the storyline but the writing style wasn't for me.

Eye opening journey through Diane's life. This will be a welcome addition to my classroom library.

I applaud Guerrero's raw honesty in opening herself up to the scrutiny that comes from sharing her personal story. As I read through how she persisted despite the deportation of her parents, through the turmoil and uncertainty, many faces of my current students came to mind. Many of them experience the same thing right now. While the tone of the book shifted from memoir to campaigning towards the end, that shift made sense. I agree with everything she stated one hundred percent.

I highly recommend this book to multiple groups: all teachers and other educational professionals working in schools with a high immigrant (especially Hispanic) population, all students in those schools, all educators period, all young adults period. We all need to know what the others around us experience to develop empathy and compassion, something many lack.

This book caught my eye as I walked through the bookstore. I just picked it up, hoping that it’d be appropriate for my 6th grade students. Let me say, I can see so many of my kids in her story. So many of my students live in the fear that she did, and the connection she was able to make with the reader was indescribable. I feel that this is a great read for kids to relate to, and would recommend it for anyone who wants to read a first-hand account of the struggle many Latinos, and immigrants, face.