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Yearning To Be American picks up Sabina’s story
where Beyond Mud and Vines
ended. In a tear jerking, but humorous way, the author takes
her readers through Sabina’s first twenty years in the United
States. Having spent the first eighteen years of her life in the
tropical hills of Puerto Rico, she only imagines life in the States
as perfect; free from poverty, fear, cruelty, and hunger.
Sabina attempts to solve her problems by marrying Frank Wilson,
an American airman from Minnesota. Her name changes from Sabina
Montalvo to Jacqueline Wilson - a change that takes her farther
away from her father and the rest of her pestering family.
Jacqueline’s fantasies about paradise living in the USA don't
even come close to the reality she encounters from the minute the
Air Force cargo plane lifts up from the runway, leaving behind everyone
and everything she has ever known. Seated next to her husband, as
the plane climbs higher, she realizes a sickening loneliness deep
within. Is she really missing her family who had given her such
miserable time throughout the years? Will she ever be free of them?
And what about Frank? Had she married him for love, or is he a ticket
out of the island. A better question is, who is this man? And where
is he taking her?
There is a long ride by bus from Mobile Alabama to Chicago, through
long stretches of open fields blanketed with brown grass and dead-looking
trees. Then, from Chicago to St. Paul, Minnesota, is a long and
lonely night on her first time in a train.
Beginning with her arrival into a city of gray and brown colors,
tall buildings, and freezing air, Jacqueline has gotten rid of Sabina,
her father’s last name, and only images of her mother and her
seven siblings remain in her mind.
Married for only three weeks, she still has many questions about
that thing called intercourse. A few years will pass, and two babies
will arrive before she can really understand what men expect from
women. Why hadn't her mother explained things to her?
Jacqueline makes the best she can with the little she has, for deep
in her heart she believes that tomorrow things will be better. Each
day she looks forward to the next. The cooking, cleaning, sewing,
and the babies keep her occupied, but she still wonders how her
Puerto Rican family is doing without her help.
Life in the States is not anything like Jacqueline had hoped, but
still she goes on learning new ideas from her in-laws and new friends.
And the Soaps on TV are her greatest companions and teachers.
While the years move on, the babies grow, and Jacqueline continues
to learn. Meanwhile, her husband does not keep his promise to her,
that once he’s married and out of the service, he'd quit smoking
and drinking.
A tight budget, along with Frank’s lack of consideration, and
all the smoke and drunkenness creates a painful life for Jacqueline
in the USA. After fourteen years of trying to make the marriage
work, she has no choice but to take charge of her life. So, one
Mother’s Day, she ends her marriage to Frank in a way no one,
including Frank, could ever imagine. 
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