Latino in America (Celebra Books)

Muy Excellante! This book is excellent. It should be required reading in our schools. Even if you do not have Latino in your family line ,it will shed some light on the plight of Latino's day to day struggle to survive in America. alejandro

This is a must for anyone living in the United States. Soledad does a wonderful job in this book. She uncovers the dynamics of Latino culture in the United States and topics and themes vary. There is something in this book for everyone. Whether you are a poor Latino immigrant or have found your American dream. Make sure to watch the documentary on CNN Oct. 21 and 22.

BEVERLY HILLS--Soledad O'Brien is a journalist who works for CNN. Ms. O'Brien has also produced special series for CNN in the past few years. Last year she had a groundbreaking series called "Black in America," which was critically acclaimed. This year the top rate reporter has a new series called "Latino in America." This is very close to Ms. O'Brien's heart. Her father was an Australian white immigrant who married her mother, a Latina immigrant also in America. Ms. O'Brien's series comes with a brand new book titled, "Latino in America," which is co-authored by Rose Marie Arce and became available this week at bookstores around the country. When I started reading the book I didn't have any background or preconceived ideas about being Latino in America. I'm originally from the southeast region of the country and although California has a huge Latina population, many remain marginalized and are workers outside of the field of journalism and entertainment. It was fun to read Ms. O'Brien's book but also very enlightening. The book will make a great companion guide with the series which starts airing this weekend on CNN. Ms. O'Brien talks about very serious issues in the book, from an almost 70 percent dropout rate of Hispanic and Latina students in American schools, to the role of Latinos in American culture and how the growing minority population will in several decades explode into the majority population most likely in the U.S. Her frank, in depth and incredibly exhaustive research that makes this book one of the most important books readers will ever get to absorb is not something difficult to read and comprehend. Because of O'Brien's training as a journalist and also an on-air commodity at CNN, I think she is able to communicate her points and teach without being preachy or making the reader feel she has an agenda. The only agenda she has is obviously giving a voice to a portion of our society, which until now has faced discrimination and the obvious stereotypes, which anyone who moves to another nation will ultimately face. The book is a winner, we'll have to see if the TV series will be a great companion and addition to the wonderful stories Ms. O'Brien compiled for this literary work. Just under 260 pages, the book is easy to read in a few days and well worth the cost. Soledad O'Brien's "Latino in America" is a must-read.