The Book of Unknown Americans: Chapter 5: Mayor Summary & Analysis

Mayor knows that “sooner or later all the kids who move into our part of town show up at school,” and he waits to run into Maribel there. He asks his friend William if William has seen anyone new in his classes, but William says there are too many to keep count—when Mayor presses him, William taunts him for having a crush.

Mayor has stopped going to soccer practice after his fall during the drill—he is too embarrassed to continue playing. He hasn’t told his parents, though, that he’s quit the team. He packs his gym bag conspicuously every morning and tells his parents stories about “practice” every night. Celia longs for a job, but Rafael insists that he is the family’s sole provider. The two are so busy fighting that they hardly notice anything is different with Mayor.

One day, Celia and Mayor go to the Dollar Tree, where they run into Maribel and Alma. Mayor is mesmerized by Maribel’s beauty. Celia introduces herself and Mayor to Alma and Maribel, and then offers Alma advice on food shopping—there is a Mexican market nearby. The two commiserate over the horrible American impersonations of Latino food, while Mayor attempts to start a conversation with Maribel. She stares at him blankly. When Alma mentions that Maribel will hopefully be attending the Evers School, Mayor is shocked—he and his friends cruelly call it “the Turtle School.” Mayor thinks that Maribel is too beautiful to have something wrong with her.

Celia tells Alma and Maribel to stop by the Toro apartment any time—she is almost always home, she says spitefully, because “[her] husband likes it that way.”