A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, winner of the International Latino Book Award for Best Latino-themed Fiction 2016, Longlisted for the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Named a best book of the season by Cosmopolitan , Vanity Fair , Harper's Bazaar , Redbook , Bustle , NBC Latino and Men's Journal The arresting debut novel from award-winning writer Jennine Capó Crucet When Lizet-the daughter of Cuban immigrants and the first in her family to graduate from high school-secretly applies and is accepted to an ultra-elite college, her parents are furious at her decision to leave Miami. Just weeks before she's set to start school, her parents divorce and her father sells her childhood home, leaving Lizet, her mother, and Leidy-Lizet's older sister, a brand-new single mom-without a steady income and scrambling for a place to live. Amidst this turmoil, Lizet begins her first semester at Rawlings College, distracted by both the exciting and difficult moments of freshman year. But the privileged world of the campus feels utterly foreign, as does her new awareness of herself as a minority. Struggling both socially and academically, she returns to Miami for a surprise Thanksgiving visit, only to be overshadowed by the arrival of Ariel Hernandez, a young boy whose mother died fleeing with him from Cuba on a raft. The ensuing immigration battle puts Miami in a glaring spotlight, captivating the nation and entangling Lizet's entire family, especially her mother. Pulled between life at college and the needs of those she loves, Lizet is faced with difficult decisions that will change her life forever. Urgent and mordantly funny, Make Your Home Among Strangers tells the moving story of a young woman torn between generational, cultural, and political forces; it's the new story of what it means to be American today. “Jennine Capó Crucet's smart, scathing, and hilarious depiction of a Cuban-American girl at a fancy northeastern university is set in 1999 - and involves and Elián González-inspired subplot - but its incisive take on race and class makes it both urgently of-the-moment and destined to be a classic.” ― Curtis Sittenfeld, Vanity Fair “Heartfelt...Being caught between two cultures is a usefully troubling condition for the writer intent on dramatizing the confusion, pain and humor of having what Crucet calls "double vision," and Crucet, the award-winning author of a story collection delivers on all three. Sharp cultural observations and terrific dialogue keep the reader engaged.” ― Kathryn Ma, New York Times Book Review “Few [debut novels] are as furious, funny, or thorny as this one... Crucet captures the vernacular of Lizet's world at home and the unbearable alienation in her campus life with a realness that's hard to forget.” ― Entertainment Weekly “Superb... Crucet expertly summons the wrenching disconnect between immigrant parents and their offspring... With this personal coming-of-age novel, Crucet offers us a piercing window into what it means to grow up.” ― Miami Herald “Sharply funny” ― New York Times “If you've ever felt out of your depth, you'll instantly connect with Lizet Ramirez, the protagonist of the new novel Make Your Home Among Strangers ... Her eye-opening year will encourage you to replace other people's expectations of you with your own.” ― Redbook “Jennine Capó Crucet renders this coming-of-age story with dazzling élan, full of moment both bittersweet and messy, heartfelt and honest. This is the type of debut novel that leaves you wanting more - in a good way. I can't wait to see what Crucet does next.” ― Buzzfeed “In her remarkable debut, Jennine Capó Crucet writes authentically about the experience of being Cuban-American on a macro scale, but also about the smaller heartaches of embarking on adulthood far from home.” ― Bustle “In this dazzling debut novel, a young female protagonist is also caught between the impulse to define herself independently of her family's past and the pressure to never stray far from home and its bittersweet cultural values.” ― NBC Latino “A classic coming of age tale... It's a playful and touching look at Miami and the lives that are lived in it, and it's definitely worth reading. Crucet just might be the literary voice that the Magic City has been waiting for.” ― Miami New Times “A brilliantly crafted, sumptuous tale.” ― Booklist, starred review “A thrilling, deeply fulfilling journey of a young woman stepping into her own power. This debut novel from Crucet heralds the birth of a talented novelist to watch.” ― Kirkus, starred review “A gripping, touching story” ― Adelle Waldman, Harper's Bazaar “An unusually comic and wise look at the dream of leaving home and that dream's ambivalent reality . . . as fun to read as it is essential. Crucet writes with insight and flair about resilience, loyalty, and the fight to find home again once you've left it.” ― Ploughshares “This coming-of-age story ac