The U.S. demographics are changing. It is increasingly getting minority, in particular Latino. They are actually 53 million estimated Latinos in the U.S., making the 2nd most country in the world, only after Mexico with most Latinos. In addition the U.S. is the 5th country in the world where Spanish is spoken. For every Anglo that dies one is born, for every Latino that dies, 8 are born. Due to this increasing population, changing demographic, and exchanging influence is why I decided to write this book. This fictional book is about a group of Latino friends that through choice or circumstance were either born or raised in the U.S. in a bi-cultural and bi-lingual environment. They come together now on vacation to get together and enjoy each other's company and relax. While they vacation the reader has an opportunity to look into their pasts while the characters reminisce on their life journey with its ups and downs while pursuing their Sueño Americano/American dream. Through their reflections we get a close view to what they have been through, both good and bad to arrive where they are today.The present amount of Latinos in America today and their influence in this country through music, art, food, language, and culture has since before the pilgrims and particularly now impacted this country in ways that sometimes many don't realize. Through the personal stories of the characters, the book will hopefully increase non-Latinos understanding of the differences and similarities as they pursue the American dream. How family, culture, religion, their faith, hopes, and dreams add to the evolving immigrant created country called America. This book will provide a unique perspective of people's lives as they tried to live them as best they could regardless of their circumstances. It will provide a look back on the characters as they reflect on their lives as they gather to vacation with their friends. It sets out to tell a series of stories that follow a group of friends as they gather for vacation. Each of them reflects on their life journey to where they are today. How they started and where and through the difficulties that some of them went through as they blended into the American way of life, either from other Latin American countries or as 2nd generation Latinos. How some went through more difficult circumstances then others, but all were appreciative of having made it this far, to where they were today as they gathered with their vacation Latino friends. This book provides a blend of unique stories, perspectives, and journeys that have the common denominator of being Latino in the U.S. while pursuing the American Dream. This book is intended for anyone that wants to enjoy a series of stories of friends as they reflect on their life journeys. It might be increasingly interesting for the growing Latino-American population in this country who might relate to one or some of the stories through either personal or by someone they know of that went through a similar experience.
About the Author: BIOGRAPHY: Edwin Luis Mouriño-Ruiz, Ph.D. Is a first generation Latino born to Puerto Rican parents in New York City. He has lived and experienced both a bi-cultural and bilingual world while growing up and being raised by his grandparents who poured into him his Latino roots and culture. He continues to pay forward his experience and successes of pursuing an education and having served in the Armed Forces by speaking to schools and mentoring kids when possible. He won Mentor of the Year Award from Orange County, FL for his work on mentoring Latino kids. He served on the Central Florida Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund (HHSF) Board, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships to Orlando Hispanic students. He has also authored a book on the human capital trends impacting organizations titled The Perfect Human Capital Storm.