In 1993, when Sara Saedi is almost thirteen, her older sister Samira reveals their family secret: the Saedis are illegal aliens, or undocumented immigrants. Although they have lived in the Bay Area near San Francisco, for over ten years and Sara knows no other life, the family can be deported at any time. Now, Sara’s ordinary teenage anxieties are augmented by the fear that she will be sent back to Iran. Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card is an autobiographical account of Saedi growing up during the years following her sister’s revelation to her about their undocumented status.

When Sara’s parents, Ali and Shohreh Saedi, were growing up in Iran, Iran was a relatively open and secular society. In the early 1950s, Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh nationalized the oil industry and promoted democracy. A military coup deposed Mossadegh, however, and established a monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah was overthrown in 1979, only to be replaced by Islamic rule under the Ayatollah Khomeini. Ali and Shohreh entered an arranged marriage in 1974. They lived in Louisiana until Ali graduated from Louisiana State University and return to Iran in 1976. Their daughter, Samira, was born the next year. In 1980, Sara was born, and war broke out between Iran and Iraq. In 1982, the Saedi family used tourist visas to get out of Iran. They arrived in San Jose, California, where Shohreh’s family had already settled.

Samira and Sara grow up in America and act like other American kids. Sara learns English from watching television and becomes obsessed with movie and TV stars, especially Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke. Samira listens to grunge music. During her childhood, Sara fights with Samira constantly. But when Sara enters the high school where Samira is a senior, she becomes the little sister of the coolest girl in the school. Samira and her friends are glamorous celebrities to Sara. Their younger brother Kia, who is eight years younger than Sara, looks up to Sara in the same way. Just as Sara has kept Samira’s secrets from their parents, Kia keeps Sara’s secrets, except for when he ruins her life by revealing her hidden passion for schoolmate Evan Parker (a transgression for which Sara eventually forgives Kia). Sara spends her high school years obsessing over boys and hating herself for having severe acne and a Persian nose.

Ali and Shohreh work hard to give their children a better life and encourage their children to follow their dreams. However, their immigration status affects many aspects of the family’s life. Ali can’t work as an engineer because he’s undocumented, so he operates his own small business instead. Mortgages are difficult to obtain, and student loans are out of the question. The Saedis endure years of lost paperwork, legal delays, and bureaucratic frustration in order to obtain work permits and Social Security cards, then green cards, and, finally, citizenship. The fear of being deported permeates Sara’s adolescent existence. The great secret of her family’s undocumented status creates an invisible barrier between Sara and her American friends and classmates, no matter how much she tries to be like them.

The Saedis’ secrets are safe within the large circle of Sara’s extended family, consisting mostly of Shohreh’s relatives. Dayee Mehrdad, Shohreh’s successful older brother, heads this extensive Sanjideh clan. He encourages Sara, her nineteen first cousins, and their parents to gather at his large house and to support each other. Sara comes to appreciate her large family network and to recognize it as an advantage of Persian culture. She gets to know her paternal grandmother when Mamani comes from Iraq for long visits. Sara’s maternal grandmother, Mansoureh Naficy, or Maman Soury, lives with Sara’s family at the end of her life. Both grandmothers drive Sara crazy with their inability to speak English and their traditional ideas, but their complicated, dramatic, and romantic life stories fascinate her. Sara shares her parents’ sorrow at their mothers’ deaths.

During her junior year in high school, Sara obsesses over Evan Parker and finally works up the courage to invite him to her junior prom. He turns her down on because of the expense, crushing her romantic hopes. Sara desperately wants boys to like her, and she despises herself because they think of her as only a friend. In her senior year, she finally gets a boyfriend, a death metal nerd nicknamed Slash, so she has a date for her senior prom. Eventually, after her freshman year in college, Sara and Slash have sex, after which Sara concludes that sex is overrated. She and Slash break up two months later.

A crisis occurs during Sara’s senior year of high school: Unable to pay both their mortgage and Samira’s college tuition, Ali and Shohreh have to sell their house and move to a smaller place. The move devastates Sara, who vows that she will return and buy the house someday. Meanwhile, the Saedis’ immigration struggles reach a crisis point: They’ve been on hold so long that Samira might age out of the system. A last-minute rescue from an immigration lawyer gets Samira a green card, just days before her twenty-first birthday. Shohreh gets her green card at the same time. But Sara and Ali must wait two more years, followed by another five-year wait before they qualify for citizenship. Sara finally becomes a citizen in 2005. Sara, now officially Americanized, has even started using a fork instead of a spoon to eat her rice. She concludes that she’s a “spork,” both Iranian and American, and proud to be both.

Sara varies her memoir by adding family photos and excerpts from her diary from her teen years. At intervals, she also answers FAQs about Iranians and their culture. In the last sections of the memoir, Sara addresses readers who are undocumented immigrants. She compares the immigration policies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump and worries about anti-Muslim prejudices. She empathizes with the fears of these Americans still living in the shadows, reminds them of their rights, and assures them that millions of people support their dreams. Sara imagines herself if had she stayed in Iran. She writes a letter to that Sara, expressing the belief that they would have much in common despite all their differences.