Enrique's Journey (The Young Adult Adaptation)

Starred review from July 15, 2013
2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nazario's critically acclaimed book Enrique's Journey, a heart-wrenching account of one young man's journey to migrate illegally from Honduras to the United States to find the mother who left when he was 5, has been newly adapted for young people. Nazario's vividly descriptive narrative recreates the trek that teenage Enrique made from Honduras through Mexico on the tops of freight trains. This adaptation does not gloss over or omit the harrowing dangers--beatings, rape, maiming and murder--faced by migrants coming north from Central America. The material is updated to present current statistics about immigration, legal and illegal, and also addresses recent changes in the economic and political climates of the U.S., Mexico and Honduras, including the increased danger of gang violence related to drug trafficking in Mexico. The book will likely inspire reflection, discussion and debate about illegal immigration among its intended audience. But the facts and figures never overwhelm the human story. The epilogue allows readers who are moved by Enrique to follow the family's tragedies and triumphs since the book's original publication; the journey does not end upon reaching the United States. Provides a human face, both beautiful and scarred, for the undocumented--a must-read. (epilogue, afterword, notes) (Nonfiction. 14 & up)

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September 1, 2013

Gr 7 Up-When Enrique was seven years old, his mother, a single parent faced with crippling economic difficulties in her native Honduras, migrated to the United States in hopes of securing a brighter future for her family. While her sacrifice provided important economic advantages, the separation eventually drove 17-year-old Enrique to embark on a four-month, 12,000 mile journey to reunite with her, traveling largely on the rooftops of trains into the United States as an undocumented migrant. In this updated version of Enrique's Journey (Random, 2006), adapted for young adult readers, Nazario offers a compelling account of a young man's brave efforts to find the parent he had not seen in 10 years, and that reunion's complex, unforeseen consequences. The journey tells the larger story of undocumented Latin American migrants in the United States. This adaptation has been tightened to focus more on Enrique's personal story, although some unflattering details (including drug use and problems with the law) have been slightly smoothed over. Nazario's straightforward, almost clipped, journalistic writing style largely serves the complex, sprawling story effectively. Backmatter includes an afterword offering substantial analysis of issues at play with undocumented migrants and notes detailing Nazario's research and writing process, including the re-creation of certain dialogue. Exploring important issues of immigration on both a personal and global scale, this title would be a valuable addition to young adult collections.-Ted McCoy, Oakland Public Library, CA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2013
Grades 7-10 In this adaptation of a 2006 adult title of the same name, Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Nazario offers young readers a compelling account of a modern-day immigration odyssey. Retracing 17-year-old Enrique's trek on foot from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, through Central America atop freight trains, to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and across the Rio Grande on an inner tube, Nazario illuminates the plight of thousands of children who desperately seek to reunite with parents who have come to the U.S. seeking higher wages. Nazario's narrative chronicles the profound dangers from gangs and smugglers, extreme kindnesses from clergy and generous souls, and Enrique's enduring courage. Comprehensive background notes document Nazario's own journey throughout the trek and her current contact with Enrique, his mother, and additional family members. This powerfully written survival story personalizes the complicated, pervasive, and heart-wrenching debates about immigration and immigrants' rights and will certainly spark discussion in the classroom and at home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)