Enrique's Journey (Sonia Nazario)

I've got Sonia Nazario's Enrique's Journey in my bag today, destined to go back to the library, finally after a second checkout. And that's not because I had trouble getting through it, it's because I couldn't bear to return it without finishing this very sad, sad tale of a boy's journey from Guatemala on the trains to find his mother who'd gone north to the U.S. work (and feed her son and daughter) when they were very, very young. What's so sad about this story is that it is not unique. Thousands upon thousands of mothers in Central America leave their children with families to find work and send money home. If they don't, then they watch their children suffer, starve, and never get an education that could get them out of the poverty they were born into. Yet, Enrique's journey, too, is not unique. Many young children attempt to go north to find their mother, and because they do, many are beaten up, lose limbs, raped, or are murdered. Nazario spins the tale as if she is with Enrique the whole time, on every attempt (he tried 6 times and was deported back to Guatemala, only reaching the U.S. on his seventh attempt), and that's because Nazario, a Los Angeles Times reporter has done some excellent investigative reporting. She writes that it took her five years to complete the book, which is based on a series that appeared first in the newspaper. What she also does so well is convince the reader that this is not just Central America's problem. It is ours, too, in the U.S. And even as we ratchet up more officers and fences along the Mexican border, more and more illegal immigrants like Enrique are still trying, despite the risks. Because the alternative is also suffering, just of another kind.