
First Gen
A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Alejandra Campoverdi
About this listen
An unflinching memoir and "invaluable resource" (Kirkus) about navigating social mobility as a first gen Latina—offering both a riveting personal story and an examination of the unacknowledged emotional tolls of being a trailblazer.
Alejandra Campoverdi has been a child on welfare, a White House aide to President Obama, a Harvard graduate, a gang member’s girlfriend, and a candidate for U.S. Congress. She’s ridden on Air Force One and in G-rides. She’s been featured in Maxim magazine and had a double mastectomy. Living a life of contradictory extremes often comes with the territory when you’re a “First and Only.” It also comes at a price.
With candor and heart, Alejandra retraces her trajectory as a Mexican American woman raised by an immigrant single mother in Los Angeles. Foregoing the tidy bullet points of her resume and instead shining a light on the spaces between them, what emerges is a powerful testimony that shatters the one-dimensional glossy narrative we are often sold of what it takes to achieve the American Dream. In this timely and revealing reflection, Alejandra draws from her own experiences to name and frame the challenges First and Onlys often face, illuminating a road to truth, healing, and change in the process.
Part memoir, part manifesto, FIRST GEN is a story of generational inheritance, aspiration, and the true meaning of belonging—a gripping journey to “reclaim the parts of ourselves we sacrificed in order to survive.”
*A NATIONAL BESTSELLER*
Winner of the Martin Cruz Smith Award (CALIBA)
2024 Council for Opportunity in Education National Book Club Selection
Longlisted for the Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award for First Year Experience
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 Alejandra Campoverdi (P)2023 Grand Central PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“FIRST GEN is a gift to all of us—the children of immigrants who have longed to read a story like ours in books. With vulnerability and transparency, Campoverdi gives us special access to so many setbacks, triumphs, and hard-won lessons as a First and Only. Every Latina hoping to end cycles of generational trauma must read this immediately.”—Erika L. Sanchez, New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
“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
"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 fellow "First and Onlys" who struggle to overcome systemic barriers while detangling generational trauma. No discussion of America's supposed meritocracy is complete without consideration of this book."—Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country: A Memoir of An Undocumented Childhood
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Story
Encouraged to be "winners" from a young age, Rose and Joe Kennedy's children were the embodiment of ambitious, wholesome Americanism. Yet even within this ebullient group of overachievers, the fourth Kennedy child, the irrepressible Kathleen, stood out. Lively, charismatic, extremely clever, and blessed with graceful athleticism and a sunny disposition, the alluring socialite fondly known as Kick was a firecracker who effortlessly made friends and stole hearts.
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Very Nicely Done
- By Kaks on 07-21-16
By: Paula Byrne
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Normal Family
- On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings
- By: Chrysta Bilton
- Narrated by: Chrysta Bilton
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
What is a “normal family,” and how do you go about making one? Chrysta Bilton’s magnetic, larger-than-life mother, Debra, yearned to have a child, but as a single gay woman in 1980s California, she had few options. Until one day, while getting her hair done in a Beverly Hills salon, she met a man and instantly knew he was the one she’d been looking for. Beautiful, athletic, artistic, and from a well-to-do family, Jeffrey Harrison appeared to be Debra’s ideal sperm donor.
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Absorbing, literary memoir, best of the genre
- By Sue Kasdon on 07-20-22
By: Chrysta Bilton
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Marrow
- A Love Story
- By: Elizabeth Lesser
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Lesser, Sally Field
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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A mesmerizing and courageous memoir: the story of two sisters uncovering the depth of their love through the life-and-death experience of a bone marrow transplant. Throughout her life Elizabeth Lesser has sought understanding about what it means to be true to yourself and, at the same time, truly connected to the ones you love. But when her sister, Maggie, needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life, and Lesser learns that she is the perfect match, she faces a far more immediate and complex question about what it really means to love.
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“ Love came first “
- By marie on 03-26-18
By: Elizabeth Lesser
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To the Temple of Tranquility...and Step on It!
- A Memoir
- By: Ed Begley Jr.
- Narrated by: Ed Begley Jr.
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Beloved actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. shares hilarious and poignant stories of his improbable life, focusing on his relationship with his legendary father, adventures with Hollywood icons, the origins of his environmental activism, addiction and recovery, and his lifelong search for wisdom and common ground.
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A Beautiful and heartwarming story
- By Brett Dalton on 10-12-23
By: Ed Begley Jr.
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The Heart of the Woods
- By: Wyl Menmuir
- Narrated by: Wyl Menmuir
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Throughout history, trees have determined the tools we use, the boats we build, the stories we tell about the world and ourselves, the songs we sing, and some of our most important rituals. As such, our lives are intertwined with those of the trees and woodlands around us. In this journey deep into the woods, Wyl Menmuir travels the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland to meet the people who plant trees, the ecologists who study them, those who shape beautiful objects and tools from wood, and those who use them to help others.
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Perfect for all who love the outdoors!
- By Hannah on 09-10-24
By: Wyl Menmuir
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Life After Darkness
- By: Michelle Knight
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Michelle Knight - now known as Lily Rose Lee - captured the world's attention in May 2013, when she and two fellow kidnapping victims were found and freed after being held for more than a decade by notorious Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro. But many people are still asking: What happened after her escape? How do you re-enter society after years of abuse and isolation? How do you get past the trauma and live a happy and joy filled life? How do you learn to trust again?
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Riveting
- By T. Goodrich on 05-05-18
By: Michelle Knight
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Love, Loss, and What We Ate
- A Memoir
- By: Padma Lakshmi
- Narrated by: Padma Lakshmi
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
A vivid memoir of food and family, survival and triumph, Love, Loss, and What We Ate traces the arc of Padma Lakshmi's unlikely path from an immigrant childhood to a complicated life in front of the camera - a tantalizing blend of Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone and Nora Ephron's Heartburn.
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Touching, Deep, Surprising, and Inspiring
- By Aishwaryame on 08-18-16
By: Padma Lakshmi
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The Traveler's Summit
- By: Andy Andrews
- Narrated by: Andy Andrews
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
This is humanity’s last chance. Centuries of greed, pride, and hate have sent humankind hurtling toward disaster, far from our original purpose. There is only one solution that can reset the compass and right the ship, and that answer is only two words. With time running out, it’s up to David Ponder and a cast of history’s best and brightest minds to uncover this solution before it is too late. The catch? They are allowed only five tries to solve the ominous challenge.
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AMAZING!! BEST BOOK SO FAR!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-16-18
By: Andy Andrews
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I'm Just a Person
- By: Tig Notaro
- Narrated by: Tig Notaro
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the span of four months in 2012, Tig Notaro was hospitalized for a debilitating intestinal disease called C. diff, her mother unexpectedly died, she went through a breakup, and then she was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. Hit with this devastating barrage, Tig took her grief onstage. Days after receiving her cancer diagnosis, she broke new comedic ground, opening an unvarnished set with the words, "Good evening. Hello. I have cancer. How are you? Hi, how are you? Is everybody having a good time? I have cancer."
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An Amazing and Real Story
- By Brian on 06-22-16
By: Tig Notaro
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In the Blood
- How Two Outsiders Solved a Centuries-Old Medical Mystery and Took On the US Army
- By: Charles Barber
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
At the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, dramatized by the popular film Black Hawk Down, the majority of soldiers who died were killed instantly or bled to death before they could reach an operating table. This tragedy reinforced the need for a revolutionary treatment that could transform trauma medicine. So, when Frank Hursey and Bart Gullong—who had no medical or military experience—discovered that a cheap, crushed rock called zeolite had blood‑clotting properties, they brought it to the military's attention. The Marines and the Navy adopted the resulting product, QuikClot, immediately.
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Excellent medical history
- By Anthony on 07-01-23
By: Charles Barber
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Putting the Rabbit in the Hat
- By: Brian Cox
- Narrated by: Brian Cox
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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The incredible rags-to-riches story of acclaimed actor Brian Cox, best known as Succession’s Logan Roy, from a troubled, working-class upbringing in Scotland to a prolific career across theatre, film, and television.
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A variety of hats and intriguing rabbits
- By C. A. Cameron on 01-30-22
By: Brian Cox
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Forever Home
- Moving Beyond Brokenness to Build a Strong and Beautiful Life
- By: Anh Lin
- Narrated by: Anh Lin
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the creator of The Abundant Life Devotional Journal and the renovation and design YouTube channel "Girl and The Word", Forever Home is a moving perspective on belonging, reckoning with the past, and living abundantly.
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So good!
- By Alexandria on 04-05-24
By: Anh Lin
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Between Breaths
- A Memoir of Panic and Addiction
- By: Elizabeth Vargas
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Vargas
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Beloved former ABC 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas reveals her alcohol addiction and anxiety disorder in a shockingly honest and emotional memoir. From the moment she uttered the brave and honest words, "I am an alcoholic," to interviewer George Stephanopoulos, Elizabeth Vargas began writing her story, as her experiences were still raw. Now, in Between Breaths, Vargas discusses her accounts of growing up with anxiety—which began suddenly at the age of six when her father served in Vietnam.
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Brave and Beautiful
- By LAFalls on 09-14-16
By: Elizabeth Vargas
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Silent Spring Revolution
- John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening
- By: Douglas Brinkley
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 29 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed presidential historian Douglas Brinkley chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the Long Sixties (1960-1973), telling the story of an indomitable generation that saved the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.
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Need one more book...
- By Chuck Wofford on 02-23-23
By: Douglas Brinkley
Memorable and Momentous Memoir
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Word’s finally naming all the unknown experiences and challenges us trailblazers go through!
The real deal!
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This is only the Beginning
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What a wonderful gift to 1st and Only’s and the World
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A must read!
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Having the author read it is the cherry on top
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Interesting and captivating
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Must Read!
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Intriguing, illuminating and moving
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Mexican Americans are a legacy in North America
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