Hopes and Dreams
5 total works
Plot Summary for Neighbors: In the 1980s in El Salvador, the struggle for power between the government’s army and the Guerillas causes widespread damage and death. A peasant couple, Ramón and Pilar, see their neighbor being taken away, his wife killed, and his house burned. Ramón becomes involved in a protest and is marked for death. He tries to escape to the U.S. but is returned to El Salvador and discovers that his village was destroyed and his family gone. He again crosses the U.S. border and is rescued from death in the desert by two nuns. He is given sanctuary by a couple in Texas. While there, he learns that his family is safe. Together again, they move to Maryland where they work in a restaurant. After several years, they work to help others gain protected status and sanctuary in the U.S.
Plot Summary for Amala's Hope: In 2011, the Najjar family decides to flee from their home in Aleppo, Syria, as the civil war comes closer and closer. The grandparents stay behind to take care of the family business. The Najjars drive to Jordan to stay with an uncle, but his house is very crowded and uncomfortable. As the war goes on, they go to a refugee camp, where they wait five years to be cleared for resettlement in America. Finally they arrive in Texas, where a church sponsors them. Only the daughter, Amala, speaks some English, but with the help of a neighbor, Marisol, they begin their new life. First, the children need to begin schooling, but with inadequate English they are placed below their normal grade level. Amala is relieved to discover three other Muslim girls wearing head scarves at the high school. Although the community is very supportive, they are harassed by anti-Muslim people, and the local mosque is burned. Meanwhile, back in Syria, the grandparents escape to a refugee camp in Turkey, where the grandmother dies. The grandfather is resettled in Germany as America closes its doors to Muslim immigrants and refugees. Despite their difficulties, the family gives thanks for what they have at their neighbor Marisol’s Thanksgiving dinner.
Plot Summary for Sent Away: This is the story of the Higashis, a Japanese-American family. At New Year’s dinner in 1941, the Higashis celebrated their good life in Northern California, living on their successful strawberry farm and running a boarding house for the farmworkers. They were prosperous and proud to be in America. On December 7, the bombing of Pearl Harbor changed everything. Keiko and her brother Tatsu were American citizens, but they and their parents were sent away to Poston, a Relocation Camp in the Arizona desert for the duration of the World War II. It was dusty, hot, and crowded with poor sanitation. Mrs. Higashi died there. Tatsu joined the U.S. army and was killed fighting for America in Europe. Mr. Higashi helped administer the camp’s co-op, while Keiko studied and kept their tiny living space. After the war, Keiko and her father returned home to California to rebuild their lives.
Plot Summary for Two Hearts: In1910, George’s widowed mother had no money for her daughter Adonia’s dowry, so she let her teenage son George go alone to America to make money for his sister. He worked shining shoes and then as a busboy in New York. He learned some English, but after a year he had nothing. He moved to Chicago to work in a factory and then bought an ice cream cart. Working with his wife and son, he started an ice cream shop. This historical novel tells the story of the struggles and success of George’s family.