Illegal

I enjoyed reading this book that shows the effects of illegal immigration through the eyes of a young girl from Mexico. Nora and her mother make the dangerous trip across the border to Texas when communication with her father stops suddenly. They face difficult and dangerous situations, and must be

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careful since they are in the United States illegally. This book provides an insightful look at immigration through the perspective of an illegal immigrant.

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Nora is a young teenager living in Mexico, waiting for her father to return from America to live with the family again. After several weeks, Nora no longer receives messages or money from her father. She and her mother decide to cross into America to find her father and bring him home.
Illegal is a

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sad, unflinching look at life as an illegal immigrant in America. Nora's struggles will resonate with many readers who have faced similar situations. While the story is not necessarily a happily-ever-after tale, the reader is left with a light, seeing that Nora will be okay and live a good life.

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Illegal is a wonderful novel that teaches the importance of family and fighting for what you believe in. About 1/5 of my students are Latino/a and I've noticed my female students really trying to find novels that they can connect to culturally. I am excited to share Nora, the protagonist's, story

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with them.

Nora and Aurora, Nora's mother, leave their rural Mexico village in search of their father who has been working in Texas but has lost communication causing his daughter and wife to search for him. The fate of Nora's father is somewhat predictable from the get-go, but the risk these ladies take to find him is incredibly inspiring. There are also many lovable characters in the novel from Keisha to Mr. Mann (that's two n's, not one). The Epilogue does a nice job of wrapping up which many young adult readers like to have (closure). There is also a glossary in the back translating Spanish words that were used into English, but I found when reading the words in context, I never needed to use the glossary.

I would recommend this novel to others, especially to middle school and high school teachers and librarians to have one their bookshelves.

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Nora's father has illegally immigrated to the United States from Mexico to support his family. When his letters and money stop arriving, Nora and her mother make the terrifying trip to Houston to search for him. This realistic fiction featuring a desperate family highlights the many obstacles

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facing poor farmers in Mexico and their limited options. The importance of family and friends shines through this story.

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Nora’s story begins in a small town in Mexico, forever changed by the economy and the loss of men/fathers/husbands/brothers across the border into the United States. Nora’s father left years ago, and money is running out for Nora, her mother and grandmother. Nora decides their only alternative

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is to travel to Texas to find him, a journey fraught with danger, fear and humiliation. After she and her mother arrive, they struggle to make a life for themselves while trying to find clues about her father’s whereabouts. Even though there are many Mexicans in Texas, discrimination and poverty abound, and the two find even the basic things challenging. All the while, Nora is still a girl, on the verge of her quinceañera, hoping to celebrate her 15th birthday with her whole family reunited.

I enjoyed this novel, and felt that it offered an honest perspective of the hardships faced by illegal immigrants. It’s simple to generalize them, as “those people” who steal our jobs, flood our hospitals, use our tax payer resources and mess up our economy. “Illegal” made me look at them as human beings, with lives, feelings, wants and needs like the rest of us, well, perhaps not like the rest of most of us who live in relative comfort with knowledge of the location of our important family members. It wanders a bit at times into the melodramatic, but this is easily overlooked by the plot which moves along nicely and tells a meaningful story. This is a nice multicultural fiction addition to a middle school library.

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I received this book as an uncorrected proof. Nora's story as an illegal 15 year old coming to America in search for her father is a believable story. I understand the author upon writing the story has interviewed a number of people who have experienced similar situations. As I read the story I

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kept comparing it to my story as an illegal as well. Her crossing of the border is credible, though the incident with the trucker seemed to me a bit unrealistic. A 15 year would be no match for a man but it is possible I suppose. Her crossing of the border was quite fast in my opinion. Her initiation in the American culture was also quite fast. It took me longer to go through the culture shock in America. I also can relate to the feeling of being caught by "la migra," though I think it is a bit exaggerated in the story. I really wasn't afraid of being reported by anyone (i.e. the police), but only particular places, like the workplace (in case of those older people). I could also relate with her experiences with the "cholos." I came close to fighting one of them when I came here. Overall, I do think the author did a good job in the experience and feelings of an illegal. Believe me, it is an undesirable feeling. By the way, I do know a few immigrants, some I consider friends. So I do know a bit about the subject.

Some other things I enjoyed about this book are the metaphors and descriptive details. The chapter titles in Spanish at the beginning when Nora is in Mexico and the change to English when she is in America was clever. The story is touching, especially because it involves the familial love. They are searching for the Dad whom they have not heard from in 4 years. I won't spoil the result of it, but it is touching. I also enjoyed the focus on spirituality. It is easy to overlook this part, but it is part of our Latino culture and good questions were offered.

I do hope the final copy was cleaned up of the errors, especially Spanish ones (e.g. "chulo" should be "cholo"). Overall, well done. Now, if I could only write my story.

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In the midst of all paranormal, fantasy, and dystopian YA, there is Illegal, a book about family and the struggles of coming to America and living as a illegal immigrant.

As the story is told from Nora, some parts of the dialogue is in Spanish, a language I don't know much about other than the daily

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Dora or Diego I get from my younger sister watching TV. So the translation in the back was helpful when I didn't understand the words.

So the story goes as Nora and her mother leave their village when their father suddenly stops bringing them money and loses communication with them when he is in Texas. The fate of him is hinted and can be easy to figure out, but the story is much more than that. The ending does a nice job of wrapping up everything, while not having a full happily ever after.

This book does not involve romance, but instead offers family and friend relationships.

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This book made me sad, it was good but heart- wrenching.I think the sadness was heightened for me because of the new immigration law that was passed earlier this year in the state of Alabama and is now being fought by the government and others. I've seen articles in the paper about Latinos moving

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back to their countries or other states and removing their children from schools for fear of deportation. This book made me see their perspective and how hard it is for them to leave everything for the hope of a better future in America only to not " count as people here" as the main characters Nora mother said in the book. Some people may take offense to this but there is always some fact to fiction. Anyway, this book will make you think about how you treat people. Nora is a well rounded and strong character, with lots of spirit.I may have something more to say later but I will end with this quote from the book, "God doesn't care about your status. He wants you to have faith."

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Some people get annoyed with the average book with a happy ending, so here’s one that’s not. A girl about our age (9th grade) has to live life without her father because he had to go the U.S. to make money. Her mother and herself leave their small town in Cedula, Mexico in search for her

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father. You would never imagine the obstacles they come a crossed. I choses this book because I liked the title just simple and doesn’t give much away.

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I would probably say this wasn’t the typical teenage love story. It didn’t have a happy ending. They did have a little hope though. I choses this book because a friend showed it to me and told me how good it was.