My most anticipated 2021 read | Indivisible | And An Interview With Author Daniel Aleman!

Happy April everyone! I’m starting to get a lot more excited on the book front, as there is a lot of books I’ve pre-ordered this year that are starting to come out and I am really looking forward to reading. The first of which is out one month today. That book being Indivisible by Daniel Aleman.

I was fortunate enough to be able to have an exclusive early read of the first chapter, as well as getting to ask Aleman a few questions. Here is what I thought, what Aleman said, and why I’m so looking forward to this book release.

Indivisible is Daniel Aleman’s debut novel, and it is actually my most anticipated book of this year. From the moment I read the synopsis (see below) of this book, it captured my attention. I knew it was one I was going to have to read as soon as it was released. For those of you who have not heard of the book or read the synopsis so far, I have posted it below. 

If you don’t want to read it, I’ll break it down. The book covers the hard-hitting themes of immigration and deportation and is centralised around Mateo, a teenage boy, who returns home from school one day to find his parents have been taken by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). 

Synopsis taken off Goodreads:

A timely, moving debut novel about a teen’s efforts to keep his family together as his parents face deportation.

Mateo Garcia and his younger sister, Sophie, have been taught to fear one word for as long as they can remember: deportation. Over the past few years, however, the fear that their undocumented immigrant parents could be sent back to Mexico has started to fade. Ma and Pa have been in the United States for so long, they have American-born children, and they’re hard workers and good neighbors. When Mateo returns from school one day to find that his parents have been taken by ICE, he realizes that his family’s worst nightmare has become a reality. With his parents’ fate and his own future hanging in the balance, Mateo must figure out who he is and what he is capable of, even as he’s forced to question what it means to be an American.

Daniel Aleman’s Indivisible is a remarkable story — both powerful in its explorations of immigration in America and deeply intimate in its portrait of a teen boy driven by his fierce, protective love for his parents and his sister.

If you’ve followed my social media at all, you will know I strongly advocate choosing love over hate. Similarly, I strongly support the work of Choose Love and charities that do a similar line of work; whilst the work of these charities is for refugee support, I believe their values are still very relevant for the themes of this book. A message that the Choose Love charity share frequently is that “no human is illegal”, and I feel that is very appropriate for the context of this novel. What, in particular, makes this book so important is the heartbreaking truth that although this book is a work of fiction, the themes are very real. This is a real fear and situation for so many people, but something that is not talked about nor written about nearly enough. Furthermore, it seems that in the past few years and still even now, there has been an increase in negative views surrounding this particular topic, which is why I think that it is really important this book is being published right now.

I was very lucky to be given a chance to have an early read of the first chapter of the book (you can just imagine how excited and grateful I was for this!), and it has already pulled me straight into the story. The first chapter alone has instantly set up the story, hit me straight in the heart and has left me desperate to read the rest.

A point I want to talk about is that of representation. Let me say – I will never tire of reading representation. Mateo was born in the USA and lives there with his parents and sister, but his parents are originally from Mexico. I have not read the full book but from the chapter I have been lucky to read, and the synopsis, I am presuming this brings in themes of home, belonging, and of course – family. These themes in particular I am looking forward to reading, especially as they hit quite close to home for me. I have Turkish heritage. I was born in the UK, but I do have family in Turkey on my father’s side, so the themes of home and belonging and family are ones which I can relate to. And let me say it again in case you’ve not heard me say it enough: representation matters.

Having said this, I want to make it clear now – you don’t need to be represented in a book to read it. Whether you relate to Mateo or not, whether immigration and deportation is an issue you’re familiar with or not, that does not mean you should not pick up a copy of the book. If anything, I would encourage everyone to read the book; who knows what you may get out of it. From the first chapter alone, I feel this is going to be an eye-opening and emotional read, but one that will capture my heart, and many others I am sure. 

I know for sure that family is a big theme in the book – not only is this clear from the synopsis, but from the first chapter. Instantly through the words I could feel the sheer huge amounts of love that Mateo has for his family, and how frightened he is for them. If you’ve ever heard me talk about books (I don’t stop, so let’s assume you have), then you’ll know my absolute favourite types of books are those that have themes of strong family bonds and that cover the themes of what characters will do for their family. Indivisible sounds like it absolutely covers that; especially once Mateo finds out his family have been taken. 

I was also very lucky that I was able to ask Aleman some questions I had about the book and the writing process. This was a really exciting opportunity and I am thrilled to share these questions and answers on my blog with you all. I really enjoyed reading his answers about his debut novel, and hope you all do too! 

*None of the answers below have been edited at all. These are Aleman’s own, authentic words*.

What was your experience like writing the book as a debut author, and how was your journey from idea to publication?

I have always loved writing. It is something I have done from a very young age, and I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to become a published author. I wrote four or five books before Indivisible, which I queried to literary agents. I got close to signing with an agent a couple of times, but in the end none of those opportunities materialized.

The idea for Indivisible originated with an image of a teenage boy standing inside a NYC bodega, who was feeling deeply upset about something. I slowly filled in the details about his family and his life, and this image ended up becoming the inspiration for the first chapter of the book. The whole process from first draft to publication was quite fast. I finished writing the book, signed with an agent, and got an offer from a publisher all within the span of a few months, though after that we went through a relatively long editing process, since we wanted to make sure we got this story just right.

I’d describe this whole journey as a whirlwind of emotions, but ultimately, I am incredibly grateful and excited to be able to share this story with readers.

How would you sell the book to readers in one line?

A powerful, emotional read about a Mexican-American teenager trying to keep his family together as his parents face deportation.

What made you want to write about such a hard-hitting issue, especially for your debut novel? 

Immigration and family separation are topics that are very close to my heart. My own family left Mexico many years ago, and so I wanted to tell a story that felt personal, emotional, and profoundly human. Over the last few years, we have seen an increasingly negative sentiment toward immigration, so I wanted to speak up and tell a story that challenged those perceptions.

Do you feel you learnt anything or that you have changed from your experience of writing the book? 

A hundred percent! Writing this book has transformed me in many ways. In particular, I’d say that I learned a lot from the main character, Mateo. He and I are similar in many ways, so telling this story through his eyes allowed me to do a lot of introspection and self-exploration, which was one of the most unexpected yet wonderful parts of this journey.

Do you think this book has the chance to change some people’s perceptions of immigration and the way they view people from a different culture and heritage to their own? 

I believe books have the power to open our eyes to realities that are different from our own, so I definitely think that people will find their perceptions of immigration changed after reading this story. My biggest hope is that readers will be able to connect with the characters, and that this book will move them, inspire them, and transform them in some way.

I don’t know about you, but I found Aleman’s answers really insightful and compelling to read. They have only added to how much I am looking forward to reading Indivisible – if that is even possible! Considering I am already this interested and captivated by the book just from the first chapter, I have high expectations for how the rest of the book will follow, so I’m thankful there is only one month left to wait now!. The book is released on the 4th May – both in the UK and US. I for one cannot wait for my pre-order to arrive, and as I said above, this is my most anticipated read of 2021. From this post – I am sure you can see why. This is a moving story of family, love and strength. It’s the kind of story the world needs to read right now. 

Indivisible will be released on 4th May in the UK and USA. To find out more and to pre-order head to Daniel Aleman’s website here: https://www.danielaleman.com/  

Daniel Aleman’s social media: 

Twitter: @Dan_Aleman

Instagram: @danaleman