Crossing the Wire

May 1, 2006
Gr 5 Up -Ever since his family moved to the tiny village of Los Á rboles, Victor has been best friends with Rico. When Rico tells him that he has enough money to pay for -a coyote - to help him cross into El Norte, Victor is unable to decide if he, too, should go along and look for work or try to feed his family with the pitiful annual corn harvest. The decision is made for him the next day when he discovers that the corn prices have bottomed out and that there is no point in even planting this year. Readers suffer with the 15-year-old as he makes his painful decision to leave his mother and younger siblings and attempts the dangerous border crossing, jumping trains, fleeing thieves and border officials, and suffering from thirst and hunger. His desperation and fear are completely believable as he faces near-death situations and must decide whom to trust. The author deftly weaves information concerning the local geography and customs into the plot. The story is well paced, sustaining readers - attention throughout. Pair this novel with Ann Jaramillo -s "La Lí nea" (Roaring Brook, 2006) for another fictional view of young people crossing the border between the U.S. and Mexico." -Melissa Christy Buron, Epps Island Elementary, Houston, TX"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2006
Gr. 5-8. As in Ann Jaramillo's " La Linea "(2006)" , "Hobbs' latest puts a human face on the controversial issue of illegal immigration. No longer able to grow corn profitably in his Mexican village, 15-year-old Victor, who has supported his family since his father's death, resolves to go to El Norte: "It's time for me to do what men from our village have to do." Lacking the money to secure a guide, he ventures to a border town to wait his chance in the "whirlpool" of recent deportees, newcomers, and grizzled " mojados "("wetbacks"). Successive attempts find him trekking through mountains and desert, fleeing " la migra," and unwittingly becoming entangled with ruthless drug traffickers. Hobbs' effort to show a broad view of the border-crossing experience, often by incorporating the hard-luck tales of Victor's acquaintances, results in a story arc that occasionally feels artificial. But the questions raised here are provocative and worthwhile ("Are [Americans] willing to pick the fruits and the vegetables to fill their grocery stores?"), and the propulsive adventure-and-survival elements will keep Hobbs' core audience hooked.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2006
Traveling illegally to the United States to look for work, fifteen-year-old Victor leaves his mother and siblings in their Mexican village. This topical story is sometimes sad, sometimes hopeful, but always tense. Hobbs gives a face to the thousands of immigrants who risk their lives in the hope of building a future for their struggling families.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)