RaveThe Oberlin ReviewOlivarez’ work is so powerful...because of its personal anecdotes and its commentary on how our national contradictions complicate and muddle everyday life for immigrants and their children ... While the commodification and economic exploitation of marginalized and oppressed populations is nothing new in American life, its ugly and harmful impacts are too often ignored. Not so in Citizen Illegal. Olivarez forces his audience to confront them head-on by pushing us to consider the experience of Mexican teens wandering around a mall, grappling with a country that simultaneously rejects them and profits off of their existence ... Olivarez’ nuanced narratives, and others like them, are vital ... Olivarez’ work is strong and vulnerable, sad and funny. It is a true work of art that leaves the reader in a state of deep thought and reflection on this country’s approach to immigration, the power of community, and the importance of rejecting a monolithic, generalized cultural narrative.
