Raul Ramirez Ramirez থেকে Bidanagere, Karnataka, India
B22886393H
I knew that crossing the border between Mexico and the U.S. was difficult, but I had no idea about the dangers that Central American migrants face before they even get to the border. Sonia Nazario tells the story of Enrique, a boy whose mother left him and his sister when he was five to find work in the United States because she could not make enough money to take care of her kids in Honduras. After feeling that no one cares about him, Enrique decides to travel on freight trains to the U.S. to find his mother by himself when he is seventeen. This book is heartbreaking. Enrique and other migrants face police who rob them, gangsters who beat them, and trains that amputate their legs. Women are frequently raped. And Enrique's mother faces poverty in the U.S., false promises about obtaining immigration papers, and a boyfriend who leaves her after she gives birth to another kid. (I almost stopped reading because the story was so depressing, but I kept going after an uplifting chapter where people threw food to migrants riding through on the trains and took care of travelers in their churches.) Even after Enrique succeeds in crossing the border, on his eighth attempt, he realizes that his life with his mother will not be the fantasy he imagined because he is angry at being left and he and his mother have grown apart. This book offers an honest look at why people see the U.S. as the answer to crushing poverty and the experiences of individual immigrants, which is often missing in discussions about immigration policy. I'm glad I read it. Thanks to the JCYC diversity book club for encouraging me to pick it up.