First Gen, Alejandra Campoverdi
First Gen, Alejandra Campoverdi
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

First Gen
A Memoir

Author: Alejandra Campoverdi

Narrator: Alejandra Campoverdi

Unabridged: 8 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/12/2023

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

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  

Reviews

Goodreads review by Gigi on August 06, 2023

Woah! As a First and Only, I had no idea that SO many of my experiences were almost universal amongst others! I felt so seen while also saddened that many others had similar lived experiences to mine. Thank you to this incredible author for doing so much of her own healing work to pave a path for ot......more

Goodreads review by Book Concierge on January 29, 2024

Campoverdi’s memoir details her experiences and that of her family, particularly the women. From growing up poor in a single-parent household with her grandmother, three aunts, and mother, the author writes about her path from Los Angeles to Harvard to the White House. She speaks about her anxiety a......more

Goodreads review by Reynasbookshelf on October 02, 2024

3.5-4? I think I would’ve maybe enjoyed the book more if I would’ve read the physical copy and looked at the pictures that’s shown in the book. I listened to the audio and for some reason I just did not enjoy the narration (even tho it was the author narrating it). Something about her expressions wh......more

Goodreads review by Emma B. on February 02, 2024

If you’ve ever been a first (like a first-gen college student, like me) or an only (like being the only person of color in your class or at your job), so many parts of this book will resonate with you. If not, there’s a lot you can learn about what it’s like to be first gen or first and only from Al......more

Goodreads review by Marcela on March 04, 2025

I had high hopes for this book as a first generation Latin American, it really excited me before I read it, but then it just fell flat. I ended up having a huge disconnect with this author, mainly because her entire personality was focused around trying to fit in. The majority of the anecdotes from t......more