A BOY AND A BOOK

A memoir that tells the story of a young Colombian immigrant who discovers the power of books.

Fernandez writes of how he went from being a poor kid in one of the most dangerous regions of Colombia to an Ivy League–educated heart surgeon in the United States. When the author was 4 years old, his father went off to work in America for years, undocumented and working factory jobs for little money, while his mother took care of him and his brother. From an early age, he says, his mother taught him how important reading was for his success. But in a gang-ridden town, a love of reading wasn’t enough to keep Fernandez on the right track. When his mother moved to America to reunite with her husband, the author and his brother were left in Colombia with his two grandmothers, and Fernandez began hanging out with a dangerous crowd. Things began to change once he and his sibling reunited with his parents in America in 1978, although the author and his family members faced the constant threat of deportation as undocumented immigrants. His love of books returned, and he began to focus on his studies in earnest and was eventually accepted into Princeton University. Over the course of this memoir, Fernandez lays out an inspiring story of a person who overcame, with sheer determination, some of the difficulties of being undocumented in America to achieve big dreams. However, as encouraging as it is, the execution of this narrative sometimes comes across as saccharine and clichéd. For example, many chapters begin with epigraphs, often written by the author himself, which include such bromides as “Some of life’s obstacles may seem unfair. In the long run, they will make you stronger.” As a result, the book may be best suited to younger readers.

An often inspirational story about a young man’s journey to success that’s occasionally hampered by platitudes.