Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother - Sonia Nazario

A true story from award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario recounting the odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.In this astonishing true story, award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario recounts the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States. When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Lourdes, too poor to feed her children, leaves Honduras to work in the United States. The move allows her to send money back home to Enrique so he can eat better and go to school past the third grade.Lourdes promises Enrique she will return quickly. But she struggles in America. Years pass. He begs for his mother to come back. Without her, he becomes lonely and troubled. When she calls, Lourdes tells him to be patient. Enrique despairs of ever seeing her again. After eleven years apart, he decides he will go find her.Enrique sets off alone from Tegucigalpa, with little more than a slip of paper bearing his mother's North Carolina telephone number. Without money, he will make the dangerous and illegal trek up the length of Mexico the only way he can clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains.With gritty determination and a deep longing to be by his mother's side, Enrique travels through hostile, unknown worlds. Each step of the way through Mexico, he and other migrants, many of them children, are hunted like animals. Gangsters control the tops of the trains. Bandits rob and kill migrants up and down the tracks. Corrupt cops all along the route are out to fleece and deport them. To evade Mexican police and immigration authorities, they must jump onto and off the moving boxcars they call El Tren de la Muerte- The Train of Death. Enrique pushes forward using his wit, courage, and hope - and the kindness of strangers. It is an epic journey, one thousands of immigrant children make each year to find their mothers in the United States.Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, Enrique's Journey is the timeless story of families torn apart, the yearning to be together again, and a boy who will risk his life to find the mother he loves.

Published: 2007-01-02 (Random House Trade Paperbacks)

ISBN: 9780812971781

Language: English

Format: Paperback, 294 pages

Goodreads' rating: -

Genres

Academic Nonfiction School Biography

Reviews

Jobyna rated it

Stuff I already knew: -The US/Mexico border sucks and there are lots of shady people making lots of money off of it.-People leave their countries and come to the US because they are dirt poor and can't support their familiesStuff I didn't already know but learned from this book:-The Mexico/Guatemala border sounds like it's even worse than ours... not necessarily in terms of how difficult it is to cross, but rather, in the absolute brutality of the gangs and bandits that prey on migrants...-Speaking of brutality, I wasn't aware that Mexico even had an immigration police, nor was I aware of the vast amount of Central Americans they deport back to Guatemala, nor the frequency of deportations (8 busloads a day) -Mexicans treat Central Americans the way Americans treat Mexicans... like dirty foreign trash.-That being said, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the compassion that some Mexicans show toward the migrants... especially in certain more "radical" churches and from people who live near the railroad tracks. There was one amazing woman who took care of amputees who lots their limbs in accidents (usually while trying to board trains or from falling off trains). I was absolutely blown away by their faith and love for their fellow man.I also think that the book detailed the psychological effects of family separation... This should definitely be read by lawmakers because I know that any upcoming immigration reform will be based on "family reunification." This book makes an excellent case for that type of reform. My only complaint is that the writing wasn't particularly amazing, but the plot of the story just about tells itself. I definitely tore through this book and I'm not the fastest reader. READ IT. I think it would explain a lot of things to people who know nothing about why "these people" come to our country... and would hopefully instill a little respect for what they've been through.

Addie rated it

I live in Oaxaca Mexico, and have lived in Veracruz and Chiapas, three places where refugees pass through from Central America to the north of Mexico, or to the United States. These locations figure prominently in Nazario's amazing book. I read it some years ago, just after I had moved to Mexico. Shortly afterward I visited California and was eating in a big Mexican restaurant in SF. Because I had just recently read "Enrique's Journey" I talked to some of the women who were cleaning off the table and found that all of them were mothers from Central America who were sending money home. It gave me a big pain in my heart.More than the story of this boy's journey, a child who rode on the top of trains from Guatemala to the US border, it is the story of Sonia Nazario's heroic commitment. She herself took this journey so that she could tell it, and the gripping descriptions of what it's like are unforgettable.Even though Enrique's experience of losing his mother is common throughout Central America, the tragedy continues. Chidren who thought their mothers would return finally give up and make the dangerous journey themselves to the border. The connection they feel to that mother is so powerful that they believe somehow they will find her once they are on the right side of "la frontera," but they almost never do. Instead they end up on the street, taken as child prostitutes, or adopted by gangs. Highly recommend.

Taddeo rated it

A well researched story that is emotionally engaging and as relevant as ever. Unfortunately I found the style, short sentences often in the present tense, to be monotonous and distracting. I'll be curious to see how 9th graders react to it, as it is required reading for the course I am teaching.

Starlin rated it

5*As verdadeiras estrelas estão dentro deste livro, são aquelas que desejam e desafiam todos os perigos para conseguir uma vida minimamente decente... Ou talvez não tão decente quanto esperavam... Opinião aqui: http://baudatanocas.blogs.sapo.pt/a-o...

Rahel rated it

Enrique's Journey is a heartbreaking story about the realities of immigrants. It helps the reader learn about the how and why immigrants come to a country illegally. I was left wondering more about the immigration process and how immigrants could go through the process legally. I was also left wondering why Enrique and his family do not seem to start the legal process of becoming a citizen and I wanted to know why and what was stopping them. I sincerely wonder what the process is like and how it can be fixed in order to help immigrants become legal citizens so that they do not have to hide from police officers every day of their lives for fear of deportation. I enjoyed reading about Enrique's hardships and victories as well as those of his family. It was intriguing to hear different views of immigration from his different family members. At the end, the author tells a little more on the different views on illegal immigration and the reasoning behind those views which is helpful to understand the issue from all point of view. I also found it interesting that those living in Honduras say that the horrible journey to cross the borders would not be necessary if there were just enough jobs that paid enough money to live above the poverty line. I also finished the book wondering what the differences are between the version adapted for younger readers and the original book. I have seen many poor reviews for the writing of this book and wonder if it is because the readers do not realize there is a version for younger readers as well as another version.I read this book on the kindle, but checked it out from the library as well to see if there were any pictures. There are a few pages of actual photographs of Enrique and his family members which make the story that much more personable.