Consider Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, by Richard Rodriguez. This memoir is an account of Rodriguez's effort to assimilate to American culture after growing up the son of Mexican immigrants. This is not as lighthearted an account as Alvarez's novel, but it is an interesting counterpoint from someone who faced many of the same struggles over language and culture.
Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt, details McCourt and his family's struggles with poverty in Ireland and his fantasy of the United States.
Consider Alvarez's other novels, including ¡Yo! (about Yolanda of the Garcia girls), In the Time of the Butterflies, In the Name of Salomé, Saving the World, and ...
