Jeanine Cummins
I came across this book somewhat randomly. I was putting together a free table of books for the parents at my school, to be set up during our Family Reading Night event. During that event, we give students several opportunities to take books home. And it dawned on me, days before the event, the best way to get kids to read is when their parents are setting the example at home. And it is a FAMILY reading night. So, I hustled and bustled to gather up books to give to parents. I had a connection to purchase some new books, sight unseen, at a significant discount. It was kind of like, well, you don't pay much, but you get what you get. And, this happened to be in that purchase. I had already heard some controversy on social media about this book, but I kept it, wanting to form my own opinion. I'm glad I did.
"All her life she's pitied those poor people. She's donated money. She's wondered with the sort of detached fascination of the comfortable elite how dire the conditions of their lives must be wherever they come from, that this is the better option. That these people would leave their homes, their cultures, their families, even their languages, and venture into tremendous peril, risking their very lives, all for the chance to get to the dream of some faraway country that doesn't even want them."
5 out of 5 Stars
Lydia and her son Luca are on the run. They are trying to escape from a living nightmare. The person who is after them isn't just a person. He is "the" person. The big guy. The most dangerous man with the furthest reaches. He has already taken everything from them. Lydia will do everything she possibly can to keep her son safe. The question is, which is more dangerous? The man they are running from, or what lies ahead?
I knew by page two of this book that it would going to rip my heart out. And it absolutely did. Over and over. I don't know what things are really like in Mexico, and in Central and South America. Is it as scary as what the media sometimes shows? I don't know. I don't know that I want to know. Whether some see this book as based on fact, or some see it as more fiction than fact, to me, the story of Lydia and Luca was both captivating and crushing. As a mother, I can't even begin to imagine Lydia's pain and fear in trying to make her way to the United States. This book. It will stay with me for a long time. And to all of the real Lydias, Lucas, Soledads, and Rebeccas, my heart is with you. When you can't even begin to fathom what others have had to endure, remember to show compassion.
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