Typically, i first show the book cover as the image for my literary posts. The morning after their night of passionate lovemaking, rearden is angry. The book is about a boy named miguel and his sister elena and they live in a poor village. Miguel lives in a small, poor town in mexico with his grandmother and younger sister. Through twists of fate, shields ends up with a local woman, olivia who is also fighting her own demons for the sake of her daughter. A mexican teen risks everything to emigrate illegally to the u.
The story is fiction but based on facts she learned from her own ell students. This story chronicles the perilous journey of two mexican children heading north to reunite with their parents. This book was eye opening for me to read because miguel, the main character in this story ohs only 15. But miguels carefully laid plans change suddenly when.
He escorts the suspicious travelers onto a bus and drives them to the guatemalan border. Mexico border, which is at the forefront of a growing debate over u. Setting miguel and his younger sister elena live with their grandmother on a ranch in the small mexican village san jacinto. Comprehension by chapter, vocabulary challenges, creative reading response activities and projects, tests, and much more. So reads the note that miguel receives from his father on his fifteenth birthday. You root for them as they experience fear, hunger, thirst and exhaustion. If you want it shut down the fundamental flaw system. When the rich don clemente agrees to help, miguels chance to follow finally comes. Their corrupt line of policemen were set up to protect drug traffickers, but after forming an alliance with barrio azteca to fight off the forces of the sinaloa cartel in 2008, they established a foothold. Jamarillo packs the book with plenty of suspense, surprises and adventure. It pulls on your heart strings without being corny and it deals with very real issues without being offensive or hard for an 11yr old to read. Depending on the study guide provider sparknotes, shmoop, etc. During the visit with don clemente, miguel learned a secret about his papa. Miguel is 15 and he is preparing to make the dangerous trek from.
Pointofview what are the pros and cons about this book being written from a. The two of them encounter dangers on both sides of the border. Characters have a range of skin tones, but ethnic diversity adds no texture to the portrayals. By lila quintero weaver description from the book jacket. He leaves for california, where his parents and two of. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who works with immigrants. All the characters are compelling, even the flat, background. His father and mother crossed the border into california years ago and have been struggling to get settled so that they could bring their other two children over. She teaches english as a second language to mexicanamerican seventh and eighth graders in salinas, california.
In sweden, the character is known as linus, in hungary as meno mano and in germany many have come to call him lui, while to canadians and south africans he is known as mister line. Ann jaramillo teaches english as a second language to mexicanamerican seventh and eighth graders in salinas, california, many of whom are migrants. All the characters are compelling, even the flat, background characters. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Miguel has dreamed of joining his parents in california since the day they left him behind in mexico six years, eleven months, and twelve days ago. On the morning of his fifteenth birthday, miguels wait is over. A portion of their journey is spent in guatemala and mata gente, a dangerous freight train that goes up all the way to the border of california. Every chapter is interesting and one wants to keep reading and reading. Her characters miguel and elena may not have been your typical brother.
Believing that he is prepared for anything, he is completely shocked to find. Line, a beloved and deceptively simple cartoon character drawn with a. Its been six years, eleven months and twelve days since i. Beautiful imagery can be found everywhere in this story. The series won prizes 1972 in annecy and 1973 in zagreb. He leaves for california, where his parents and two of his sisters have lived for the past seven years.
The characters that they meet and the experiences that they have are told in a manner that you do not want to put this book down. Biding his time for six years in a backwater mexican village, miguel, his younger sister elena and his grandmother survive on money his parents send monthly from california. Ann jaramillo really expresses all of the characters feelings. It is the byproduct of a good idea and modest expectations. The pacing of the plot is quick and driven, and the characters are. But miguels carefully laid plans change suddenly when his younger sister elena stows away and follows him. I did not know much about this book prior to reading it for an assignment, but i am glad i had the opportunity to read it.