Title: The Power of the Green Card
Author: Grant Kennedy
Publisher: Xlibris
ISBN: 978-1524557645
Pages: 206
Genre: Political & Social Sciences
Reviewed by: Allison Walker

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Grant Kennedy could not have found a more perfect time to release his novel, The Power of the Green Card. At a time of political activism, when immigration is a conflicting and defining issue for Americans, Kennedy has dropped a cool penny of honesty into the fountain of heated opinions. The Power of the Green Card is a collection of stories by immigrants, mostly Jamaican, who traveled to America in pursuit of the American Dream. Theirs is a look into the underbelly of immigration, and the sometimes questionable means people will go through to create a better life for themselves and their families.

Some of the stories are truly inspiring, like “Mr. Can-Do-It-All,” who spent his youth in Jamaica rummaging through trash to clean and resell, and eventually, through hard work and iron will, came to own three bakeries and four homes in America. Others are simply incredible, like “Ms. Persevere,” who stowed away aboard a casino ship to travel to America.

When Kennedy asks his interviewees if they have realized their American Dream, despite the many difficulties in doing so, they all answered yes. Even the people struggling to survive in America, still fighting to gain citizenship and a living wage, desperately resist deportation and continue to work unwaveringly toward the actualization of their own dream. It’s interesting to note, many of the people who shared their green card journey for this book — who came to American, whether legally or illegally and struggled but ultimately succeeded in attaining legal citizenship — all of these people disagree with how undocumented immigrants are treated.

This book has all the makings of a successful storybook, however we need to keep in mind the genre of non-fiction social and political sciences in which it is written. It has a timely theme, interesting characters, plenty of strife and struggle and the accompanying dose of success and resolution. The Power of the Green Card is certainly educational and entertaining. But it’s this odd storybook feel that really limits the influence this book will have on the population because it dives into characters too much which results in lacking the ability to challenge readers on an intellectual policy level.

Kennedy could not have found a more perfect time to release this book than now, when the county is in such political upheaval and immigration is a defining argument. With this book, Kennedy has a real opportunity to build sympathy and understanding. A healthy dose of patriotism and appreciation show the reader just how grateful the book’s contributors are to have been granted opportunities they could not have achieved in their mother countries. A head’s up to the readers; widen your perspective – this book is your own opportunity for a greater understanding of the world around you.