The Far Away Brothers

July 10, 2017
While working to assist young immigrants at an Oakland, Calif., school district, writer Markham encountered Raúl and Ernesto Flores from El Salvador, teenage twin brothers who, like many others in recent years, fled gang violence in Central America and came to the U.S. as unaccompanied minors. For the Flores brothers, home was La Colonia, an idyllic village until it was overrun by gangsters—among them the boys’ uncle, whose threats against Ernesto precipitated the twins’ emigration. Markham outlines the twins’ perilous journey to the U.S.: a long trek through the desert and a traumatizing violent incident. Once here, they had to navigate a labyrithine path to citizenship, beset by language barriers, difficulty securing legal counsel, and lack of funds, to say nothing of the emotional issues that caused the twins to fall into patterns of drinking and self-harm. In addition to the boys, Markham introduces the reader to their older brother Wilber, who acts as the boys’ guardian despite being only 24, and their sister Maricela, left behind in La Colonia to deal with an unplanned pregnancy and the family’s debt. Markham also visits a Mexican migrant shelter, the border wall in southern Texas, and an immigration courthouse to give further context. This is a timely and thought-provoking exploration of a international quagmire. Markham provides a sensitive and eye-opening take on what’s at stake for young immigrants with nowhere else to go.

Starred review from July 1, 2017
Markham relies on her roles as a journalist and a worker in the realm of refugee resettlement and immigrant education to craft a powerful narrative about an experience that plays out every day in the United States.Focusing primarily on one family's struggle to survive in violence-riddled El Salvador by sending some of its members illegally to the U.S., the author never loses sight of the big-picture issues regarding immigration. Throughout, she inserts brief chapters about those concerns in a compellingly intimate narrative about the Flores family. Markham keenly examines the plights of juveniles sent to America without adult supervision, a large, constantly growing contingent that includes twins Ernesto and Raul Flores, who sought to escape their hometown because they feared for their lives among the rampant gang violence plaguing their country. Knowing almost nothing about the U.S., the Flores twins lacked both money for their journey and any marketable job skills, and they spoke no English. Their journey was harrowing, to say the least (spoilers omitted), and their transition to life in the U.S., mostly in Oakland, continues, raising new difficulties each day. As they have tried to balance their minimum-wage restaurant jobs with education, the schooling has suffered. Meanwhile, their parents and most of their siblings continue to live in highly dangerous circumstances in El Salvador. Markham met the twins in her job as a counselor at a public high school with a heavy influx of juvenile refugees without documentation, and her experience in that role informs the eye-opening narrative. Most of the book takes place before the election of Donald Trump, but it's clear that the policies of the new administration will make the lives of the Flores twins and countless others even more terrifying. One of the most searing books on illegal immigration since Sonia Nazario's Enrique's Journey (2006).

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August 1, 2017
Twins Ernesto and Raul Flores grew up on their family's farm in El Salvador in an era when gang violence spread across the country. To escape threats, Ernesto and Raul took out loans to pay a guide to take them north across the U.S.-Mexico border. The boys were part of a wave of unaccompanied minors escaping violence in their home countries. After a traumatic crossing, the twins moved to Oakland, California, to live with their older brother, Wilber. They worked to earn money to pay down their debts while attending high school, learning English, and attempting to gain legal residency in the U.S. Markham met the Flores brothers while working at their school. Markham's book is a stark examination of youth migration and the extreme risks taken to access a better life. Ernesto and Raul's story is interspersed with reporting from stops along the route north, in which Markham explores the dangers of migration and of staying home. Markham questions the accessibility of the American dream while compassionately narrating Raul and Ernesto's experiences.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

October 1, 2017

Markham (Virginia Quarterly Review) recounts the experiences of twin brothers Ernesto and Raul Flores, who fled El Salvador at age 17. The author candidly discusses their lives in their home country as they negotiated poverty, violence, and limited possibilities. After their uncle threatens them, the Flores family takes out a massive loan to hire a coyote to transport the twins to the United States. The Flores boys endure hardship and uncertainty during their travels, only to be apprehended after crossing the border. Owing to their status as unaccompanied minors, they are allowed to stay in the country while awaiting deportation proceedings. Markham describes the stress and uncertainty as they navigate a new country and new language. Their experience is contrasted with that of their sister Maricela, who still lives in El Salvador. Markham also intersperses background chapters that provide a larger picture of the migrant crisis and finishes by calling for the United States to claim responsibility for their role in creating the Central American migrant crisis and to address the problem humanely. VERDICT An affecting and personal look into the experiences of minor migrants.--Rebekah Kati, Durham, NC

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2017

Raised in El Salvador in the shadow of civil war, Ernesto Flores always dreamed of going to the United States. When he offended a dangerous gang in the region, he had to flee north, followed by identical twin Raul. Here's the story of how these two 17-year-olds ended up in the custody of an estranged older brother in Oakland and learned to adapt to America.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.