Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Yearling (2012), 160 pages
Description
After eleven-year-old Zitlally's father is deported to Mexico, she takes refuge in her trailer park's forest of rusted car parts, where she befriends a spunky neighbor and finds a stray dog that she nurses back to health and believes she must keep safe so that her father will return.
User reviews
LibraryThing member KHusser
Touching story of 11-year-old Zitlally and her family’s struggle to free her illegal immigrant father and bring him back to their home after he’s deported to Mexico. The first person narrative makes for a real-life depiction of her family’s struggle with the law, coyote traders, and keeping
Show More
the family intact. Star, an abused dog in her trailer park, gives comfort to Zitlally in her depressed surroundings. A glossary and vocabulary guide in the index help readers with Spanish terms and words. This book has pertinent information and a realistic storyline for the times, especially for young Arizona readers. Show Less
LibraryThing member LNase
A well told true to life story that many Mexicans who cross the border looking for a better life face. The fear and uncertainty that young Zitlally feels for her father and family is portrayed in easy terms that young readers will understand. In this tale, when Zitlally's father is deported back to
Show More
Mexico, she finds comfort in the language and stories her father has told her through the years. Caring for an abused dog name Star, Zitlally strikes up a friendship with a girl who lives in the trailer park and realizes that caring for Star is also insuring her father's safe return. Laura Resau's book is one that easily can be adapted as a classroom unit on Mexico, immigration and being poor without resources to turn to in time of need. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sullywriter
A vivid, moving story that offers a compelling perspective on illegal immigrants.
LibraryThing member Brainannex
Laura Resau is one of those authors who it seems like no one knows in my area but she is so good. Although this is not one of my super-favorites (read Red Glass or What the Moon Saw, it is still a good story for an age group that is facing the issues explored but doesn't have a lot of literature so
Show More
far. Show Less
LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
Shortly after Zitlally's Papá is deported to Mexico, she discovers a dog tied up to a rusty truck near her trailer park. She names the dog for the star shape on the dog's head, and she and friend Crystal feed and care for the apparently abandoned dog. When they discover the dog missing just before
Show More
her father is kidnapped trying to cross back into the U.S., Zitlally realizes that as the dog goes, so goes her father, and finding Star safe and sound is crucial to getting her father back. Illegal immigration is a complex and controversial topic, but young readers will get a suitable introduction by viewing the effects on the family through Zitlally's eyes. Show Less
LibraryThing member fingerpost
Zitlally lives in Colorado with her parents and two sisters. They are illegal immigrants. When Zitlally's papa is deported, the family suffers both the loss of family and the loss of his income. She finds a dog chained under an old truck in a junk yard and begins to care for him, believing in time
A good book for younger readers, teaching about the immigrant experience, as well as the usual YA topics of friendship and family relationships.
Show More
that his is her father's spirit animal. She also becomes friends with a neighbor, who is shunned at school.A good book for younger readers, teaching about the immigrant experience, as well as the usual YA topics of friendship and family relationships.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2010-03-09
Physical description
160 p.; 5.25 inches
ISBN
037585410X / 9780375854101