sriharsha somayajula

Enrique's journey is about the treacherous journey of an immigrant boy who is determined in his search for his mother who snuck behind the walls of the United States border. His mother, Lourdes, abandoned him and his sister during their early childhoods because she believed she could seek better opportunity and financial stability in the states. As a young boy Enrique is filled with anger and sadness as he doesn't understand why his mother left which results in him turning to gangs and misbehaving in school. He moves house to house under the care of a different family, never gaining a sense of comfort and trust within his relationships. When he was seventeen he decided to leave Honduras and set out to find his mother, determined to make the risky and dangerous journey across the border. To cross the border Enrique must cross thirteen of Mexico's states while facing gangsters, corrupt police, and immigration officers. He attempted his journey from Honduras seven times. During the trip at many close encounters he is at the brink of death but still pushes past those barriers. He also comes across many fellow migrants and children who share their stories with him. He also receives tokens of generosity who help him who offer help at their own risk. On his eight occasions he is successful with the help of El Tirindaro (smuggler) and finds his mother. Though their reunion, at first, was happy, tensions slowly built up, causing dispute between mother and son. Enrique's girlfriend gives birth to Jasmin (their daughter). Enrique's girlfriend has trouble deciding what is good for the child so she decides to leave Mexico to go to the United States in hope that her daughter will be able to come to America and grow up with her parents. In summary this book is a detailed depiction of immigrants' journey across the border. Nazora (the author) did an amazing job narrating the book because she gave the reader background content between parts of the book allowing the reader to understand the book more clearly. She also didn't center the book on just Enrique; she gave fragments of other people's life in the book providing the reader an overall knowledge on what crossing the border is like. In my opinion while I was reading the book I was really immersed because I was shocked at how difficult the journey was and it really gave me an idea of how singular a perspective can be without background knowledge. Overall I thought this book was an amazing and immersive experience which deepened my knowledge of the journey across the border because it provided multiple perspectives, gave statistical data, and even though it was informational I felt a deep connection with the story.