As an almost novice to Latinx issues and peoples, I found this book to be very readable and it sparked my interest to know more about the Latinx communities in my own region. I liked the travelogue format of the book and I was interested in the author's own perspective that she freely included. I'd recommend it to any reader who wants to learn more about the Latinx community through an interesting and often personal take on it.

Paola Ramos explores Latinx as a term and as it relates to the intersection of her own identities as Cuban/Mexican queer person. She then travels across the US to speak to different pockets of oft-overlooked Latin American diaspora communities to show how "Latinos" are not a monolith. I learned a lot from this book, like how Latinx Muslim are a fast-growing group and that the state of Georgia is home to many Mayans. This is the kind of information that would have been fascinating and eye-opening to learn about when I was a Latin American Studies minor in college! Since there are so many identities to explore within the umbrella term of "Latinx," this book could have easily been several times its current length and I wish it had been longer. Yet at the same time, the writing style was a little disjointed, so the actual length worked. At times Ramos reflects on her self, but then turns a more journalistic eye on the topic so that it wasn't clear where the boundaries really lay. What felt disjointed to me might feel comfortable to someone else though, so don't let that keep you from checking this book out.

FINDING LATINX reminds me of a collage, part reporting & part journal, it amplifies the vast spectrum of Latinx stories that exist throughout the U.S. It’s a must-read for anyone that wants to learn more about what it means to be Latinx and American.

Although the word Latinx is controversial I think this book makes a good attempt at trying to explore the importance or capturing the Latinx experience under a single term for the sake of advocacy. Though as the book proves with the variety of experiences between Latinx Folx, it is a feat plagued by erasure.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I've seen Ramos criticized on Bookstagram to some degree, mainly in terms of her sympathy toward anti-Castro Cubans. The fact remains that Ramos is half Cuban, and that would explain her allegiance, AND she is also half Mexican and the daughter of Jorge Ramos of Univisión fame. She is also queer and very vocal so I was curious to see what she would do with this book.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised in that Ramos, much in the style of María Hinojosa, traveled the USA interviewing people who are themselves from or descendants of Latin American countries (although there is an emphasis on Mexicans, Central Americans, and people from the Caribbean and from what I can recall, one Venezuelan and one Colombian). She interviews people who some might view as less visible: meth addicts in Fresno, LGBTQ activists, an Afro-Cuban who is prominent in the Proud Boys, and indigenous communities that are thriving in various locations across the USA, including a Oaxacan community in Poughkeepsie, NY. Ramos also explores (fairly in depth) the identity of AfroLatinos. These are all human interest stories and do draw in the reader, making us aware of the multifaceted presence of Latinos across the USA.

What is harder to fathom is Ramos' explanation of "Latinx" as a common denominator for all who are typically otherwise known as Latinos and in some cases Hispanic. As the use of the term, has entered the mainstream it has been embraced by some and rejected by others, (a topic to discuss another day), and many who are of the Latin American diaspora prefer to name their identity as people from their particular country rather than accepting the overarching term Latinx as way of fusing a people that is not a monolith. It could be a function of Ramos' youth that she sees the term as all encompassing - an umbrella term that she holds has room for all underneath it.

The book is an interesting read, and is well written. I also think it is a book that provides a lot of material for discussion.

I teach Writing at a diverse, West Coast University. Finding Latinx is exactly the book my students and I need to give us a lens through which to view our current historical moment. Writing courses, even academic ones, tend to lead to questions of self-definition—and self-definition in all its variety lies at the heart of Finding Latinx. Whether you identify as Latinx and are looking for a book that both reflects and broadens you own experience or are a teacher working with this cohort, you'll find Finding Latinx a throught- and discussion-provoking read.

The stories were enjoyable but overall the book fell flat. The writer imposes themselves tooo often and makes what should be about a community about them and their experience, which is fine, if it was about a boook about you. Still glad I read it but not what I expected.

Paola Ramos's <i>Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity</i> takes us on a cross-country road trip, examining the Latinx movement in the United States. From California to Texas to Iowa to Florida, Ramos gives us insight into often overlooked Latino communities: queer, conservative, indigenous, undocumented and more.

Ramos writes: "That's the things about the Latinx Movement: it forces you to look at sixty million people in a different way, but it also forces you to reframe the country's own geography. Lands that once felt foreign now feel ours. . . The history, people, institutions and places we all thought we knew, start to take on different meaning through this movement."

In this thought-provoking, important work Ramos creates a narrative that is both informative and engaging. I would recommend this book to folks looking to learn more about the Latinx movement, and to anyone looking for more diverse perspectives.

Finding LatinX // by Paola Ramos

Finding LatinX was a reading experience unlike any other I have had. LatinX is a term that I only recently learned about and I was eager to find out more. My husband is from Mexico and we frequently speak of his country and its inhabitants, the things he loved there and the ones he was happy to leave behind, the struggles of being an immigrant in a country that can be so hostile towards newcomers and those it views as outsiders even if they have lived here their whole lives. Paola Ramos' book really made me wish that he was a reader so that we could discuss the things I was learning about in more detail. While I have always enjoyed learning about other cultures, and his, in particular, this book allowed me a glimpse into the lives of LatinX people in a completely new light, connecting different aspects and traditions of their cultures to the struggles and triumphs in their lives in (to me) unexpected ways.

The book is organized geographically, following her as she visits the Southwest, the South, the Northeast, and the Midwest regions of the United States. I liked how she used a journalistic approach with her research while also ensuring to make every issue personal by introducing people directly affected, activists working to improve their lives, as well as the history of many marginalized groups. Something that really impressed me is how she also spoke to people with views that she disagreed with vehemently and tried to understand their position as well as how they arrived at those views. I learned about how people can be both proud of their heritage as well as be critical of its problematic past, have different ideals while working together to reach a common goal, and how the many people make up this group as a whole as well as stand out individually at the same time.

This book left me with so many more things I want to learn that I did not even realize I did not know. It also left me viewing issues outside of the LatinX circle in a new light as many of them can be seen similarly in other marginalized groups as well. It seems I picked this book up at the perfect time with the upcoming elections as it provided me with a new lens to look at our country and the leaders and change I hope to see in the future. I do hope to read many more things from this author as I very much enjoyed her blend of the professional with the personal.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange

Vice Media journalist Paola Ramos has written an insightful book titled Finding Latinx that incorporates the experiences of myriad Latinos across the U.S., probing them to discern what exactly constitutes Latinx experience. Ramos suggests the election of Donald Trump was a pivotal moment that sought to unify Latinx who were resistant to these political changes. The book is organized geographically with sections on the Southwest, the South, and the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States. Ramos primarily strikes a journalistic tone, though she is quick to point out that she uses a dual lens as both a journalist seeking facts and an activist.

The work uncovers countless Latinx narratives less well known. For example, Ramos highlights the Latinx community in the Central (or San Joaquin) Valley, which she refers to as “the heartland.” I appreciated this new lens that moves the heartland out of the Midwest since the majority of the nation’s fruits and vegetables are produced here. Fresno has been plagued by a meth crisis and the Latinx community is not immune to that scourge. Not surprisingly, Ramos indicates that the lack of opportunities and resources coupled with a toxic environment riddled with pesticides contribute to a “domino effect” where many seek out meth. In this way, the chapter on the Central Valley reminded me of the problems plaguing the Gulf region of Mississippi illuminated by Jessmyn Ward in Men We Reaped. Other strong chapters covered the Rio Grande Valley were systemic poverty and racism become a barrier to access to education, reproductive rights, and healthy food and the Deep South where communities of Guatemalans have been well-rooted in towns such as Canton, Georgia. In some ways, this work reminded me of Karla Cornejo Villavicienco’s masterful The Undocumented Americans.

At times, however, the coverage seemed slightly repetitive, as two chapters on Guatemalans might have been consolidated. Moreover, the second half of the book with long, disparate chapters did not seem quite as effective as the cogent, tightly argued first half of the book. What Ramos does lay bare is that Latinx communities are diverse and ubiquitous throughout the United States. The book is recommended for those interested in community studies and Latinx studies.