The poetry collection was heartfelt and definitely worth the time, effort, and money required in acquiring it.

This is a book that is needed in these times. As someone who teaches dreamers and children of immigrants I know that there are many people who don't fully understand the psychological burdens they feel every day by virtue of just living in this country. However, as a teacher of immigrants I found this book lacking. I have been in an #ownvoices kick and what this book lacks in more authentic voice.

Brenna Dimmig’s poetry collection Sanctuary Somewhere is centred on undocumented immigration experiences in the U.S. Her two main characters, Osmel and Leslie experience the U.S. differently based on their immigration statuses. Despite being siblings, Leslie is legal because she is born in the U.S. but her brother, Osmel, and her mother are undocumented. The fear of speaking about immigration statuses means that even amongst immigrant families and communities many people do not know who is or is not documented.

At the beginning of the poetry cycle, Osmel learns that he too, like many people in his family, is undocumented. Yet he doesn’t quite understand what that means to him. Alex tells him, “At school we’ve now/ all come out/ as undocumented.” The fear and freedom in those lines speak volumes to the immigrant experience in the U.S. To stay hidden offers some sort of safety, but it also means isolation and never knowing who to trust.

Undocumented immigrants in the U.S. experience a lot of exploration and discrimination. The possible paths to citizenship or even green card status are complicated and convoluted. Often people do not have the money or support to pursue such options.

Osmel is angry and jealous of his sister, Leslie, who is free from this worry and concern. When their mother falls and hurts herself, Leslie calls 911 which makes the whole family and especially Osmel panic. Yet the EMTs do not ask too many questions to the relief of everyone.

Dimmig’s story is simple and it is this simplicity that makes it powerful. Contemporary poetry is often relegated to the lofty halls of academia, yet this poetry also described as YA verse is extremely accessible poetry that draws on a long line of poetic history where poetry could tell stories, like Spencer’s Fairy Queen or The Odyssey.

This would be a great resource for Highschool teaching whether it be in history, literature, or cultural studies. What other poetry collections are you reading? As always, share the reading love.

Note: this poetry collection was accessed through Netgalley for review purposes.

Sanctuary Somewhere is a story written in verse about Osmel, a high school student who dreams of being a meteorologist. Osmel finds out he is undocumented and begins to learn about life as an undocumented immigrant. This would be a great read for a middle or high school aged student to learn about undocumented immigrants.

Osmel's world is turned upside upon discovering they are undocumented.. Jealous of a sister who was born here, Osmel navigates this news with a feeling of not truly belonging anywhere.

Many thanks to Netgalley and West 44 Books for providing a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book is what made me want to pick it up and read it. The issue of undocumented children living in the United States is a very timely subject in today’s society. The debate has centered around what should happen to children brought into this country illegally, through no fault or decision of their own.

This book tries to take on a small piece of that controversy. Written in verse, the story follows one year in the life of Osmel. A senior in high school, Osmel has dreams of attending the University of Washington in pursuance of a degree in meteorology. However, Osmel’s family has been hiding a secret from him his whole life. He and his mother are undocumented. The discovery of this information sends shockwaves through Osmel’s life. He begins to question if any of the dreams and aspirations he had for his future are even a possibility.

The author does a decent job of helping the reader to understand some of the unknowns that undocumented children live with daily. It is something that those of us who are citizens can’t begin to understand. Yet, I could only give this book 3 stars. For me personally, I was looking for a story with such a strong subject to have much more depth than it delivered. However, I do believe it would be great for some of my middle schoolers.
Recommend.

Sanctuary Somewhere is a poetry collection based on a Dreamer who didn't know he wasn't an American citizen. The collection follows a short period of his life when he is attempting to attend college and find his place in the world. He struggles as changes in policy create struggles for himself and his family.

While I enjoyed the collection, I initially thought it was an own voices collection and was really interested in it. However, the story really missed its' mark and I feel like it could have been a lot better and more impactful.

I also really did not like the substitution of letters for symbols throughout the book. I think it reads differently on different methods--my kindle app seemed different than my actual kindle.

I think the book could have been better, however it was an enjoyable read.

I received a copy of Sanctuary Somewhere from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A good topic that needs to be explored by more people. The verse was easy to read and made the story flow nicely.

I really liked certain aspects of the book such as the story line or plot and the fact that message was an important one that needed to be heard. The book also does a pretty decent job conveying the varying emotions present. I also liked the evidence of culture as it felt very authentic. The themes were also easily identified. However, I thought the book would have been better as a novel and not poetry. The poems lacked captivating figurative language and just didn't seem like poems, just short sentences if that makes sense. The journey of the characters, fleshed out as a novel, in my opinion would have made the work powerful because the plot is great and the premise is amazing.

Very relevant story/verses for every country at the moment , with different emotive feelings on immigration high in every country. The human perspective of those statistics is shown in these verses and people need to remember the human element and not the stats ! Emotive, well written and easy to digest, it was good but I felt missed something and I felt I needed to know more otherwise would have been 5 stars


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I honestly really enjoyed this verse novel! This is a novel about a seventeen year old high school student who is trying to find his way through life. I enjoyed the plot line but I felt like I needed to know what was going to happen to him later in life. Also, the format of the ebook arc had emojis in place of some letters and it got really confusing! Otherwise I recommend it to anybody!

I received an ARC of Sanctuary Somewhere by Brenna Dimmig from the publisher West 44 Books in exchange for an honest review.

We need more stories of dreamers. We need to understand their struggle. We need these characters and this book gives us that. The book is the story of a young teen who finds out that he is undocumented while in high school and this is him dealing with his new life.

The poetry is perfectly fine, it was not my favorite, but I am glad that the story is in the literature. I look forward to more stories of dreamers.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing the arc. I liked the book. I was full of nice poetry collectio

Thank you to Netgalley and West 44 Books for the advance Kindle copy of this 4.1 release. All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for this story in verse about an undocumented high school boy. Osmel’s dreams of becoming a meteorologist are shattered when he finds out that he is undocumented. With the help of his cousin and school counselor, he strives to find a college that will accept him, all the while living in fear of ICE. Aside from the ARC being a bit hard to read (the version on my phone changed letter combinations to emojis), this is a good hi-lo offering for middle school readers on up. A sure purchase for my collection.

important poetry for young adults about DACA and being an undocumented immigrant. Heartbreaking but powerful and definitely an important and very quick read

When I picked this book out I chose it for two reasons, firstly because I assumed that it was written by a Dreamer, and secondly because for some reason I also assumed that it was written by a teenager. As soon as I realized that both my assumptions were incorrect it colored my view of the book completely and for that reason I was unable to appreciate it as much as I probably should have. I was so excited to think that a Dreamer was being published that my realization that this wasn’t true was a real letdown. I think it’s essential that we let the people who have firsthand experience of being undocumented tell their stories, maybe because of personal experience, maybe because of the continuous bias that stands against those of us who were or are undocumented, or maybe just because so many of us remain in the shadows and have no voice it feels like a slight that someone else gets to tell the story. (Although I know it isn’t meant that way, but publishers please seek out firsthand stories from Dreamers too, there are so many of them).

If I take myself, my family, and our collective experiences out of the equation and look at Sanctuary Somewhere more objectively I completely understand why the author wrote it. It’s written in such a way (long form freestyle poetry) that it’s easy to read and digest, and it’s deceptively simple. The wording feels simple at first glance, but the emotion conveyed all through the book is very deep. That said you will most likely read through it in less than an hour.

Osmel lives with his mother and sister next door to his uncle and aunt and their kids, goes to school with his friends, and works with his family in an orchard. Osmel is undocumented, as is most of his family, and some of his friends. He only finds this out via one of his aunts when he is 17. He also witnesses an uptick in ICE arrests and deportations, and while he holds onto his dreams of being a meteorologist he struggles with the two lives he feels like he is living.

Brenna Dimmig conveys the fear, the reluctance to talk about one’s immigration status, even with those close to us, and the difficulties associated with being both an undocumented immigrant while only knowing the US as home very well. This book is a great tool for teaching school children about Dreamers in general and for also teaching empathy. However I do feel that it only scratches the surface, and a lot is also missing (mainly the reason why some people are not eligible to apply for DACA, why there are more deportations now, the sacrifices that immigrant families make not only to come here but also to stay here, and the continuous rot of white supremacy that directs this country, the effect of the current administration on the immigration population, the stereotypes, and also the fact that not all Dreamers are Mexican). I feel like Osmel’s story deserves deeper insight, maybe in the form of a novella.

So all in all, Sanctuary Somewhere does the job Brenna Dimmig set out to do, it is well written and full of emotion, but what is missing for me is the voice of someone who lived or is living this situation (the likes of Reyna Grande come to mind).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

A poignant, timely and moving book, Sanctuary Somewhere by Brenna Dimmig is the story of Osmel, a seventeen year old boy who dreams of going to college to study meteorology. The biggest threat to this dream is the fact that he and most of his family are undocumented , and in the current political climate that is a very dangerous state. Unable to apply for Dreamer status, he worries about the security of his family, and doesn't know which of his friends may be in the same boat. The fact that his younger sister is a citizen, born in the USA, starts to build a wedge between them and when ICE officers are seen near the farm where his family works, Osmel begins to worry that his worst fears will come to pass.
The language used is simple, at times almost sparse, but that does not make it any less powerful. The author has done a wonderful job of portraying the family dynamic , the protectiveness of the parent and Osmel's gradually growing awareness that all is not well,, and that his family have been hiding the truth from him. The framing of the story as a narrative free verse was something that I really enjoyed.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Given the format of this story, it was really good. The book is one long poem which can be read in well under an hour. It's about a teen who finds out that he is undocumented. It's a compelling read, but I would rather have read this as a short story or novella than a poem. There's a whole lot of sparsely filled pages for the price.