Audiobooks by Helen Thorpe

Finding Motherland: Essays about Family, Food, and Migration

Helen Thorpe, author of a trio of award-winning books about the experiences of immigrants, refugees, and veterans, shares seven essays she has written on the related themes of her own family's story, the labor that goes into producing local food, and the intersections of migration, race, and privilege. In the first essay, Thorpe takes us to the dairy farm in Ireland where her mother grew up, and shows us how Ireland is modernizing in surprising ways. She describes her family's decision to immigrate to the United States and how that reshaped her parents, and writes of becoming a mother herself as an experience analogous to moving to a new country. She shares stories of her neighbors, profiling an undocumented student in her local school district who carries the American flag for his ROTC unit, and illustrating the immense economic, legal, and social challenges facing an undocumented mother with whom she shares the same public school. She documents the labor of men from Mexico and Honduras who work to produce the locally grown food that we eat. In the final essay, she asks us to remember the forgotten past of Irish-American immigrants, who arrived penniless, starving, and often illiterate during the potato famine. Finding Motherland demonstrates how much past generations of immigrants have in common with those who arrive in the US today. Thorpe is the author of three other books of narrative nonfiction: Just Like Us, Soldier Girls, and The Newcomers. Just Like Us was named one of the best books of 2009 by the Washington Post. Soldier Girls was named the best nonfiction book of 2014 by Time Magazine. The Newcomers was described by The New York Times as “a delicate and heartbreaking mystery story” about 22 immigrant and refugee teens who share a classroom and learn English together.

Helen Thorpe (Author), Helen Thorpe (Narrator)

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The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship, and Hope in an American Classroom

Offering a nuanced and transformative take on immigration, multiculturalism, and America's role on the global stage, The Newcomers follows and reflects on the lives of twenty-two immigrant teenagers throughout the course of their 2015-2016 school year at Denver's South High School. Unfamiliar with American culture or the English language, the students range from the age of fourteen to nineteen and come from nations struggling with drought, famine, or war. Many come directly from refugee camps, and some arrive alone, having left or lost every other member of their family. Their stories are poignant and remarkable, and at the center of their combined story is Mr. Williams: the dedicated and endlessly resourceful teacher of their English Language Acquisition class-a class which was created specifically for them and which will provide them with the foundation they need to face the enormous challenges of adapting to life in America. Thorpe writes with great compassion...Her story will entertain and enlighten readers, creating a wider, more sympathetic view of the world and its inhabitants-certainly something we need right now.

Helen Thorpe (Author), Kate Handford (Narrator)

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Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War

Soldier Girls follows the lives of three women on their paths to the military. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home. We see some of them drink too much, have illicit affairs, and react to the deaths of fellow soldiers. And we see what happens to one of them when the truck she is driving hits an explosive in the road, blowing it up. She survives, but her life may never be the same again. “…a solid chunk of American history…” - The New York Times Book Review

Helen Thorpe (Author), Donna Postel (Narrator)

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Just Like Us

Just Like Us tells the story of four high school students whose parents entered this country illegally from Mexico. All four of the girls have grown up in the United States, and all four want to live the American dream, but only two have documents. As the girls attempt to make it into college, they discover that only the legal pair see a clear path forward. A coming-of-age story about girlhood and friendship, as well as the resilience required to transcend poverty, Just Like Us is also a book about identity. The girls, their families, and the critics who object to their presence allow the reader to watch one of the most complicated social issues of our times unfurl in a major American city.

Helen Thorpe (Author), Paula Christensen (Narrator)

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