This book provides a powerful narrative about the struggles of children to journey north from Central America through Mexico to join their mothers who immigrated to the United States to work. The children, as young as 7, endure unbelievable conditions including injury, beatings, rape, hunger, and death to find their mothers. Their mothers, often single, had no choice but to leave their children with relatives and immigrate to the United States to provide economically for their families. This book provides a human-centered insight into immigration issues and puts them in the context of unlivable economic conditions, single mothers struggling to provide for their children, and children desperate to rejoin their mothers.
One interesting feature in the book is the exploration of what happens after the children find their mothers. They often struggle with feelings of anger and abandonment, and yet the cycle of leaving children home while immigrating to the United States continues within the family highlighted in the book, because of such limited economic options.
