First Gen

“Intimate and unflinching, FIRST GEN reveals the very real human and emotional costs to living the American Dream. Alejandra Campoverdi shines a guiding light for all the ‘First and Onlys’ who, like her, struggle to overcome systemic barriers while detangling generational trauma. No discussion of America's supposed meritocracy is complete without consideration of this powerful book.” 

—Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country: A Memoir of an Undocumented Childhood 

“FIRST GEN is a luminous achievement, one of the most moving debuts in memory… Campoverdi transforms the furies, hypocrisies and disappointments of the American dream into a survivor’s song of surpassing poignancy… this is literary love medicine, a book you will not soon forget.”

—Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of New York Times bestsellers The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and This is How You Lose Her

"A profoundly moving story of how one woman grew to appreciate that the painful challenges and self-doubt inherent in being the ‘First and Only,’ were also the source of her extraordinary superpowers. FIRST GEN will inspire countless readers to follow in the path she blazed."

—Valerie Jarrett, former Senior Adviser to President Barack Obama and New York Times bestselling author of Finding My Voice

"I wish this book existed when I was a first generation student navigating the alienating world of academia and the mostly white workplaces thereafter. Campoverdi’s writing is honest, healing, and empowering. FIRST GEN has made me feel seen and less alone."

-Javier Zamora, New York Times bestselling author of Solito

"Alejandra is the definitive voice for first generation young people who maintain their heritage while achieving their ambitions."

—Norma Kamali, Fashion Icon and Designer

“Alejandra Campoverdi, with piercing insight and unflinching candor, has written a book for our times––capturing the American dream as experienced by immigrants and their children who are remaking America. Her story may be one-of-a-kind, but the lessons she learned and imparts are universal.”

—Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of national bestseller Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

“FIRST GEN captures the emotional and physical agility required to break generational glass ceilings. Alejandra’s captivating memoir reminds us to be bold and brave on race relations be it in the boardroom or the Oval Office.”

—Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO and President of Ariel Investments

"This is a beautiful and powerful book. But, more than anything, it is a truthful one. Campoverdi's life is, in a way, a reflection of everybody's dream in America. She could have told us about all she has achieved—and then suggest that, if she did it, you can too. Instead, courageously, she tells us how difficult it was: that there is a price to be paid when you are the 'First and Only'.”

—Jorge Ramos, Emmy award-winning Senior Anchor of Univision News and bestselling author of The Latino Wave