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thefriedone's review against another edition
4.0
Good, quick read about how two teachers and four high school students from a poor part of Phoenix start a robotics team and end up beating MIT (and other well-funded, "elite" teams) in the competition, despite their meager funding and lack of formal training. We learn a lot about the students' backgrounds (most are either living illegally/undocumented in the US or have family who is) and the sad state of anti-immigrant hysteria in Arizona in the early 2000s (and to this day). The last few chapters post-competition deal with the students struggling to succeed after graduation (trouble affording college or joining the military, etc) despite their accolades. And trying to navigate living in a country that "doesn't want them." A touching, sad, infuriating story.
sylviea28's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deportation
Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Murder, and War
drbatfcc's review
5.0
I require students in my Schools & Society class to read a book from a list of options. This one is a favorite!
syngbld23's review
4.0
I had to read this book for my English class. I looked at the cover and read the title and was dreading it. As a daughter to immigrant parents who were deported at some point in their lives, it made me wonder how much of the same experiences my parents had. How fortunate am I to have been born in the US and have the opportunity to go to college while others like those boys can’t. This book was, in my opinion, such an inspiration. Despite their adversities, they beat the odds and went on to live their lives as successful as possible given their circumstances.
zw00875's review
5.0
Really an incredible story that manages to address large issues in American society about immigration. I am not a science person, but this book made me want to be an engineer. The ending wasn’t perfect, but the showing of the stark reality made the story more exceptional.
curleyfries's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
While it advertises itself as an inspiring story, the injustices faced by these students - and all immigrants as a whole - are impossible to outweigh.
hank's review
4.0
Great story, mostly depressing particularly where the kids finally end up. All of the issues around undocumented kids are difficult and somewhat intractable. When viewing this particular angle it is hard not to be outraged that we don't value obviously smart and capable future citizens. Kids should have to suffer for adult politics/boundaries/decisions yet it happens almost everywhere.
The message I will take with me is that creativity and drive always seems to rise to the top if given even a glimmer of a chance.
The message I will take with me is that creativity and drive always seems to rise to the top if given even a glimmer of a chance.
cjchilds66's review
5.0
Nice mix of several of my interests. Technology, education, and diversity.
One of the best parts was after the team wins the big competition and beats MIT, where the reality of how this country and Arizona treats immigrants deflates the feel good vibes of the big win.
One of the best parts was after the team wins the big competition and beats MIT, where the reality of how this country and Arizona treats immigrants deflates the feel good vibes of the big win.
mezzosherri's review against another edition
4.0
Inspirational yet nuanced tale
Davis tells a vivid and engaging tale about how four high school students from the desert of west Phoenix ended up beating the best colleges in the country in a 2004 underwater robotics competition. But this is more than a feel-good tale. Davis is compassionate and unflinching in explaining the complexities of these youths' circumstances as undocumented Mexican immigrants. Ten years after their "big win," all four of these young men have continued to face limited opportunities, challenges often exacerbated by increasingly punitive anti-immigration legislation. I appreciate Davis's insistence on telling the story of what happened after that competition, and the explicit contrasts he points out between the "feel-good" ending of the film adaptation and the actual lived truth of things. Still, I found myself a little bit frustrated by Davis's insistence on staying in impassive objective journalist voice rather than speaking the bold truth of this tale: if national robotics experts are being deported or only able to find janitorial work, that is a clear sign that we MUST do better.
Davis tells a vivid and engaging tale about how four high school students from the desert of west Phoenix ended up beating the best colleges in the country in a 2004 underwater robotics competition. But this is more than a feel-good tale. Davis is compassionate and unflinching in explaining the complexities of these youths' circumstances as undocumented Mexican immigrants. Ten years after their "big win," all four of these young men have continued to face limited opportunities, challenges often exacerbated by increasingly punitive anti-immigration legislation. I appreciate Davis's insistence on telling the story of what happened after that competition, and the explicit contrasts he points out between the "feel-good" ending of the film adaptation and the actual lived truth of things. Still, I found myself a little bit frustrated by Davis's insistence on staying in impassive objective journalist voice rather than speaking the bold truth of this tale: if national robotics experts are being deported or only able to find janitorial work, that is a clear sign that we MUST do better.