Catalina
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
A year in the life of the unforgettable Catalina Ituralde, a wickedly wry and heartbreakingly vulnerable student at an elite college, forced to navigate an opaque past, an uncertain future, tragedies on two continents, and the tantalizing possibilities of love and freedom
“Diabolically charming and magnetic. I enjoyed the hell out of this little exploding geyser of a book.”—Ira Glass
"Catalina seems destined to be a contemporary American classic.”— Pulitzer Prize finalist author Francisco Goldman
"An unforgettable character . . . [Catalina's] an American original, a fragile and funny powerhouse.”—author Quiara Alegría Hude
Dive into the book trailer
"In prose that bristles with intelligence and wit, we see Catalina facing the uncertainties of undocumented immigrant life and, at the same time, we get the full range of her life—her erudite mind, her questing soul, her desire for love and freedom."—author Glenda R. Carpio
A letter from the author to you
Check out the book club kit below, where Karla Cornejo Villavicencio has a letter for you and some discussion questions so you can talk about this book with a friend!
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is the author of the National Book Award finalist The Undocumented Americans. Her work, which focuses on race, culture, and immigration, has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, Elle, n+1, The New Inquiry, Interview, and on NPR.
National Book Award Finalist
The Undocumented Americans
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
“Karla’s book sheds light on people’s personal experiences and allows their stories to be told and their voices to be heard.”—Selena Gomez
In her incandescent, relentlessly probing voice, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio combines sensitive reporting and powerful personal narratives to bring to light remarkable stories of resilience, madness, and death. Through these stories we come to understand what it truly means to be a stray. An expendable. A hero. An American.
