Something In Between Summary

Words: 651
Pages: 3

Something in Between is a YA book about Jasmine de los Santos who recently discovered she and her family are undocumented immigrants in the US. This barred her from the possibility of applying to any college or university. Here are some things this book nailed:

It’s a story that isn’t devoid of colors, the main character is a Filipino American who simply wanted to attend Ivy League, who wanted to fulfill her American dream. Mainstream YA books only tell one kind of story and that usually revolve around white kids and their struggles to apply to college. This isn’t it.
The protagonist of the story Jasmine is a high achiever. She isn’t afraid to go after what she wants, and that is her American dream. She pursued her dreams despite the threat
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There’s also food description, familiar Tagalog words, our vibrant heritage is so alive (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧
The author embedded complex teenage issues and didn’t brush it under the rugs. As example, girls getting insecure of each other; and the amazing thing is you could see the girls making up. Girls owning up to their mistakes (◡‿◡✿)
Another thing that strikes me about Something in Between is how being an undocumented immigrant didn’t make Jasmine a social pariah; instead she received an overwhelming support from her peers that are cheerleaders. This is how you write diversity. You give them a great support system, that’s our reality as well.
It is the political book that didn’t alienate people of colors and our existence in the US history. Jasmine’s story tackled hard-hitting topics such as racial identity, the harmful stereotypes, oppression immigrant experience in daily basis. It also examines the privilege, and what is it like to be a minority in the US.
The romance is everything so pure in this world. It’s a whirlwind dizzying kind that have plenty of build
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Extra selling point: the otp did the cupping face trope, the i’m-cold-im-going-to-give-you-my-coat trope. YOU WILL SWOON (◡‿◡✿)
The otp literally call each other their home if you still don’t want to read it we cant be friends
I love how the book also tackled, the wide financial and privilege gap between Royce and Jasmine. It played a huge factor in the story. Most YA books that I’ve read never contemplate the “rich-poor” dynamic. It’s something you can’t easily dismiss, especially if you don’t have the exact footing as the people you surround yourself with. Alienation and insecurity will take hold of the place. It shouldn’t be dismissed as “teenage drama” when it’s a legit issue.
I love the complexity of how they are written. There’s the mutual love and respect they have for each other. At the end of the day, they provid familiarity, and comfort to each other. Their relationship is about abolishing the platitude two people who come from opposite upbringing can’t be together. That is so beautiful (≧◡≦)
Something in Between isn’t merely a book about immigration, the moral story isn’t to resolve the reformation of immigration, but to give hope to one girl’s dream. The heart of the story would always be about Jasmine who come terms with her identify, who fought to be heard, who dared to dream, and the people who helped and inspired her along the