Illegal

June 15, 2020
Following their escape from the cartels and corrupt local police threatening their lives in Ciudad Ju�rez, Mexico, Sara Zapata and her brother, Emiliano, learn that even Los Estados Unidos can't guarantee their safety. About 10 days have passed since their fateful trek across the border chronicled in the closing chapters of Disappeared (2017). Held captive at the Fort Stockton Detention Center, Sara awaits the results of her appeal for asylum in the U.S., every day losing more hope among the other women refugees. In the meantime, she must endure the ire of detention center personnel, including an office director with dangerous criminal ties. Unable to continue her investigation of a human trafficking ring with roots in Mexico and the U.S., Sara pins all her hopes on Emiliano, who now holds the all-important cellphone with incriminating data linking the powerful officials and criminals involved in the abduction and captivity of las Desaparecidas. Emiliano, meanwhile, heads off on a harrowing journey of his own, struggling to reconnect with his estranged, Americanized father while striving to elude danger at every corner, including the looming threat of deportation. Switching from third-person narration to a less enthralling first-person alternating narration, this sequel piles on the suspense and twists. Though there's some muddled political commentary, Stork offers a biting indictment of the U.S. government's immoral apathy to the refugee crisis within its borders. Strong character development, however, reigns supreme. A brilliant, penetrating follow-up. (Thriller. 12-18)

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Starred review from June 1, 2020
Grades 10-1 *Starred Review* After taking down a cartel and narrowly escaping by crossing the border from Mexico to the U.S., siblings Sara and Emiliano find themselves in even more danger than they were back home. Sara, a former journalist in Juarez, is in a detention facility, awaiting her asylum hearing. Her younger brother, Emiliano, is in hiding with a most precious cargo?the cell phone of cartel boss Hinojosa, which may contain the contact information of human traffickers based in the U.S. It is a race against time as Sara desperately tries to survive the cruel and inhumane conditions of the facility. Meanwhile, Emiliano must rely on his ingenuity and determination to avoid his pursuers. Picking up where 2017's Disappeared left off, Stork does not miss a beat. This time, Emiliano is the spotlight character, with Sara providing stark interludes inside the detention facility. While Disappeared took pains to illustrate the lives of the poor in Mexico, this throws light on the many experiences of Mexican immigrants in the U.S., from migrants being detained to undocumented workers fearing ICE raids to those who have attained citizenship and have perhaps too easily forgotten the poverty and despair back home. This book will not disappoint as both a thrilling page-turner and as a powerful analysis of injustice happening within America's borders.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2020

Gr 8 Up-Beginning immediately on the heels of Disappeared, siblings Sara and Emiliano Zapato find themselves separated in their attempt to escape a cruel cartel who threatened reporter Sara and her family, after she discovered the cartel was behind a string of young girls' disappearances in their hometown of Ciudad Ju�rez, Mexico. After successfully crossing the border into the United States, Sara turns herself in to petition for asylum, and is being held at an immigrant detention facility where the Mexican cartel has more sway in her treatment than the rule of law Sara was so certain she'd find in this new country. Meanwhile, Emiliano heads to Aurora to live with his estranged father and attempts to lift incriminating information from the cellphone he and Sara were able to smuggle from the Mexican cartel. But the life and danger they left behind is more intertwined with the people they know stateside than Emiliano or Sara ever fathomed possible, and each sibling's next move to do what's right could be the one that sends them both back to Mexico-and certain death. While some of the circumstances that keep the suspense high require some suspension of disbelief, a truthful and timely look into the United States' immigration procedures and divisive political landscape shines through. An epilogue seems to conclude Sara and Emiliano's fate for good. VERDICT A strong showing for fans of crime and suspense, and recommended where the first title does well.-Brittany Drehobl, Morton Grove P.L., IL

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 24, 2020
In this sequel to The Disappeared, Stork revisits the Zapata siblings, who are now on the run from the cartels and seeking asylum in the U.S. Three weeks ago, Sara, a reporter in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, helped free her best friend Linda Fuentes, who was kidnapped by Leopoldo Hinojosa. When Linda sends Hinojosa’s cellphone to Sara, Sara becomes a target. After Hinojosa’s men attack them on the journey, Sara turns herself in to plead for asylum at Fort Stockton Detention Center, leaving Emiliano with the object. In Chicago, Emiliano hides with their father, Roberto Zapata, now Bob Gropper, who immigrated five years ago and started a new family. But Bob’s new wife, Nancy, is less than thrilled to be harboring “an illegal stranger.” Things grow more complicated when Emiliano’s whereabouts are discovered, and Sara learns that the guards at the detention center may be compromised. Stork delivers another thrilling story, carefully juxtaposing the issues asylum seekers face with the experiences of “illegal” immigrants in a dual-perspective first-person narrative. Socially relevant and politically poignant, Stork’s propulsive thriller explores how the U.S. justice system treats immigrants. Ages 12– up. Agent: Faye Bender, the Book Group.