Luz

An earnest novel about the journey of a young Mexican immigrant. This debut novel by Thomas, a longtime immigration rights activist, opens in Los Angeles in 2015, when Alma Cruz's 14-year-old daughter, Luz, accuses her of knowing nothing about the plight of Central American refugee children detained at the Texas border. Luz's outburst prompts Alma to reflect on her own life and on secrets that she can never reveal. Her story begins when her beloved father, Juan Cruz--who traveled annually from Oaxaca City, Mexico, to work in California--disappears in 1997, leaving his wife and four children back home. Alma's dream of becoming a math teacher is shattered, and her mother's distant cousin moves in with them, which further complicates matters. Unwilling to accept that her father has deserted them, Alma hatches a plan to go north and seek help from her half brother, Diego, in Los Angeles and from Dolores Huerta, a famous activist about whom her father had spoken. Alma and her sister, Rosa, eventually team up with Manuel, a 16-year-old refugee from Guatemala. In an author's note, Thomas addresses at length the research she undertook and the issues involved in telling this story as a non-Latina author. Her use of Alma's math journal, which includes story problems (with answers provided in the back of the book), is an especially effective storytelling device. This, along with the tender depiction of first love and an epilogue by Alma's daughter, Luz, may make the novel intriguing for YA readers. Readers should be warned, however, that the characters' attempts to cross the border build to a tragic, life-changing event in the Arizona desert involving sexual assault. Alma is a compelling narrator throughout, and Thomas' clear, simple prose conveys the terrifying encounters and moments of danger that mark her journey. Minor characters, including Alma's former teacher and a nurse's aide who helps Alma evade a detention center, also emerge as fully rounded individuals. A sensitive but unsparing coming-of-age drama.

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