Fifteen-year-old Victor Flores is faced with a tough reality when he realizes he is going to have to be the man of the family and try to cross from Mexico into the United States to save his mother, his brothers and his sisters from starvation and poverty. Unlike his friend, Rico, Victor doesn't have the $1,500.00 to give the "coyotes" to guide him across. Victor is going to have to face the heat, the lack of food and water, and being hunted, all by himself. But he can't stay in Mexico and do nothing, so he sets forth to "cross the wire."
224 pages 978-0060741402 Ages 10-14
Keywords: action/adventure, perseverance, self reliance, survival, family, courage, Latino, Latine, Latino and Hispanic, diversity, diverse books10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, 13 year old
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
********** In this riveting, action-packed novel from award-winning author Will Hobbs, a teenage boy hoping to help his loved ones must fight for his life as he makes the dangerous journey across the Mexican border into the United States.
When falling crop prices threaten his family with starvation, fifteen-year-old Victor Flores heads north in an attempt to "cross the wire" from Mexico into America so he can find work and help ease the finances at home.
But with no coyote money to pay the smugglers who sneak illegal workers across the border, Victor struggles to survive as he jumps trains, stows away on trucks, and hikes grueling miles through the Arizona desert.
Victor's passage is fraught with freezing cold, scorching heat, hunger, and dead ends. It's a gauntlet run by many attempting to cross the border, but few make it. Through Victor's desperate perseverance, Will Hobbs brings to life a story that is true for many, polarizing for some, but life-changing for all who read it.
Acclaim for Crossing the Wire includes the following: New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, Junior Library Guild Selection, Americas Awards Commended Title, Heartland Award, Southwest Book Award, and Notable Books for Global Society.---from the publisher
