Mary is nineteen and living alone in Albuquerque. Adrift in the wake of her mother's death, she longs for something meaningful to take her over. Then Jose Luis enters her life. A refugee from El Salvador and its bloody civil war, Jose has been smuggled to the United States as part of the sanctuary movement.

Mary cannot help but fall in love with the movement and the man. And little by little, she begins to reveal to Jose Luis the part of...

"We're everywhere, and it's time to come out of the closet: I speak of the tongue-tied generation, buyers of books with titles like Master Spanish in Ten Minutes a Day while You Nap. . . . We grew up listening to the language--usually in the kitchens of extended family--but we answered back mostly in English."

Demetria Martinez wields her trademark blend of humor and irony to give voice to her own "tongue-tied generation" in this notable series of essays, revealing her deeply personal views of the world. Martinez breaks down the barriers between prayer and action, between the...