Preview
  • Once I Was You

  • A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America
  • By: Maria Hinojosa
  • Narrated by: Maria Hinojosa
  • Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (558 ratings)

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Once I Was You

By: Maria Hinojosa
Narrated by: Maria Hinojosa
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Publisher's summary

NPR’s Best Books of 2020

BookPage’s Best Books of 2020

Real Simple’s Best Books of 2020

Boston.com readers voted one of Best Books of 2020

“Anyone striving to understand and improve this country should read her story.” (Gloria Steinem, author of My Life on the Road)

The Emmy Award-winning journalist and anchor of NPR’s Latino USA tells the story of immigration in America through her family’s experiences and decades of reporting, painting an unflinching portrait of a country in crisis in this memoir that is “quite simply beautiful, written in Maria Hinojosa’s honest, passionate voice” (BookPage).

Maria Hinojosa is an award-winning journalist who, for nearly 30 years, has reported on stories and communities in America that often go ignored by the mainstream media - from tales of hope in the South Bronx to the unseen victims of the war on terror and the first detention camps in the US. Best-selling author Julia Álvarez has called her “one of the most important, respected, and beloved cultural leaders in the Latinx community”.

In Once I Was You, Maria shares her intimate experience growing up Mexican American on the South Side of Chicago. She offers a personal and illuminating account of how the rhetoric around immigration has not only long informed American attitudes toward outsiders, but also sanctioned willful negligence and profiteering at the expense of our country’s most vulnerable populations - charging us with the broken system we have today.

An urgent call to fellow Americans to open their eyes to the immigration crisis and understand that it affects us all, this honest and heartrending memoir paints a vivid portrait of how we got here and what it means to be a survivor, a feminist, a citizen, and a journalist who owns her voice while striving for the truth.

Also available in Spanish as Una vez fui tú.

©2020 Maria Hinojosa (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio
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Editorial Review

One of the best books of 2020, Maria Hinojosa brings heavy truth out from the shadows with honesty and vulnerability. This essential journalist's memoir will move you to action if you like hard-hitting insights that dive deep into inequities and uncover injustice.
In her audiobook, Hinojosa recounts her family's story with pride and intent. Her first-row seat to the impact immigration policies had on her family makes her experiences invaluable to your awareness. The Emmy Award-winning journalist has relayed countless stories about the world surrounding her, and in this audiobook, she relays the world that lives inside her.
Hinojosa tackles immigration history in Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America through the lens of her Mexican-American family. Born in Mexico City but raised in a diverse area of Chicago known for its crime in specific neighborhoods, Hinojosa witnessed firsthand a torn America. This powerful book illustrates a simple look into a better approach to a better world.
Immigrants live in a state of anxiety that doesn't provide them with the means to write their own narratives. As a result, institutional structures allow less protection to one of the most vulnerable populations in America, yet those living this reality are rarely heard. In this melting pot of a country with a rich history of immigration, there are glaring inequities plaguing society, and Once I Was You examines ways to address these injustices. It takes a strong voice to champion the Latino community, a community of over 60 million Spanish-speaking people.
Hinojosa has become one of the most esteemed Latina voices to handle the mission, providing representation through mainstream media channels such as Latino USA, CNN, NPR, and CBS. In her journalism work, she has interviewed many celebrated Latino icons, including Lin Manuel Miranda, Cherríe Moraga, Dolores Huerta, and more. —Audible Latino Editor.

What listeners say about Once I Was You

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A must read!

Great chronological details about immigrants through the decades. So many events and sentiments that have been overlooked by the mainstream media, thanks Maria for putting this forward.

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wow!

I loved your strength and vulnerability you are truly inspiring to all women! As a daughter of a Mexican immigrant mother with many undocumented cousins, I am grateful for you providing us with a voice.

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Our Voice

The raw honesty touched my soul.
I recommend this book to anyone who has immigrant blood.
Thank you for writing this book that has forever changed me.

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an intimate and vulnerable memoir

I'm sad that I can't hear this for the first time again! This book is an outpouring of love that paints a complex portrait of american life for migrants across generations.

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    5 out of 5 stars

María the Unbreakable

This book is absolutely amazing. María you're a BAD ASS! This book gives voice to so many of those that have been silenced. It gave a voice to me that like María, struggle with imposter syndrome. A latina who is born in the United States to immigrant parents. A must read for anyone who wants to understand immigration in our country.

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Educational & Entertaining

Loved learning more about Ms. Hinojosa and the Mexican & broader Latin culture. Revitting. inciteful & entertaining

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Powerful

This book was full of powerful stories that very few are willing to share. It shows the injustice of the innocent people fighting to have a better life for themselves. It uncovers the disgusting nature of people who use power to hurt women and children. Thank you Maria for sharing your stories, and being fearless woman and narrarator you are..

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Great memoir, read beautifully by the author.

Loved it and was inspired by many aspects of her life. Thanks for sharing your story Maria and for fighting for your dreams. Her story of life, challenges and takeaways is impactful. The journey is not an easy one but the story it creates is a beautiful one. Just got to remember to think about perspective and sometimes we're lucky to see the lessons in the struggle.

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A great and honest story

At times heartbreaking to listen to, but always honest and true facts, without sugar coating or excuses for bad behaviors. As a multi year listener to Latino USA, I was surprised to learn how much more Maria Hinojosa have accomplished, as a lifelong critical journalist, and still having a sound & functioning family, great achievement

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Of course Maria Hinojosa would blow us away

Maria Hinojosa, host of Latino USA and In The Thick, tells her story with passion and compassion - drawing the listener in and helping us understand what makes her such a brilliant journalist.

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