Making an American Family: A Recipe in Five Generations

Making an American Family: A Recipe in Five Generations is the progressive story of one family, told through five generations, beginning with their journey into the United States during the Mexican Revolution, and culminating with their posterity, attending school online during the COVID19 pandemic. A family memoir, told through a chorus of voices, invites the reader into the multi-sensorial experience of memory and story. The price of “becoming American” in the USA proved to be high, but did the family think it was worth it? With passion and precision, Rodriguez serves the reader a family feast of memories, the perfect recipe for making an American family.


- 'Part memoir, part oral history, and part personal exploration on the part of a bi-ethnic woman who never felt Mexican enough, Making an American Family is a love letter to those who have gone, and a prayer for those still to come.' ~Elizabeth Gonzalez James, author of Mona at Sea.
- 'Janet Rodriguez has poured her whole heart—all her love, all her longing, all her questions, all her tremendous talent—into this beautiful, delicious, deeply moving exploration of family and culture and home, investigating what is lost through assimilation, what is gained when family sticks together.' ~Gayle Brandeis, author of Many Restless Concerns, and The Art of Misdiagnosis.
- “Canta, no llores...Sing, don't cry,” a wonderful, old Mexican song, describes this amazing family memoir. Janet Rodriguez follows her family's line to five generations, including family trees, recipes from her ancestors, and the most marvelous photos. And los cuentos, the stories, bring each generation to la vida on the page- MUCHAS BRAVAS, el amor, el canto song has been passed on.' ~Alma Luz Villanueva, author of Song of The Golden Scorpion (novel), and Gracias (poetry)