THE THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW

Caught between two worlds, a girl born in Puerto Rico struggles to find her place in 1950s and ’60s America.

Though Andrea Rodríguez and her little brother, Pablo, were born in Puerto Rico, all they know is the company town of Woronoco, Massachusetts, their home since they were babies. In 1954, their father, Luis José, sent for the family after finding work at a paper mill. Over the years, their mother, Raquel, comes to regret the move, resenting Woronoco’s remoteness and mourning her alienation from her sisters, cultural traditions, and mother tongue. On the first day of summer vacation after Andrea finishes third grade, Raquel flees to Puerto Rico with the children, her second escape attempt. (The first was foiled by her inability to drive.) Andrea and Pablo are forced to adapt to a new climate, new status quo, and new prejudices. Once again, they’re considered strangers in a strange land. Meanwhile, their mother seems to lose interest in them, failing to enroll them in school and ditching them with their aunts to pal around with an old flame. Whiplash results when their father shows up out of the blue and whisks them back to Massachusetts. Upon returning to Woronoco, Andrea and Pablo must simultaneously readjust to American culture and the English language and navigate the standard growing pains of tween- and teendom. Their father’s casual racism and conservative opinions cause increasing friction, culminating in a moment that overshadows Andrea’s life for eight years. Author Pérez does an exceptional job of telling a story from a child’s perspective, especially in the first half of the book; Andrea’s gradual loss of trust in her mother strikes a particularly poignant note. As the siblings’ time in Puerto Rico recedes and they hurtle toward adolescence and then adulthood, the narrative falters somewhat, feeling more rushed and containing less of the rich background that made the initial chapters so compelling.

A coming-of-age tale that beautifully evokes the contrasting environments of Puerto Rico and Massachusetts.