The Crossing

This was immediately engaging for four of my female middle-school students whose families are immigrants from Mexico. I purchased the copies with my own money, so four is all I had. The girls used it for literature circles and then took their copies home for the summer. Definitely a hit with everyone involved.

Maria is a strong and insightful 12 year old. Inspite of the numerous hardships of an impoverished childhood, Maria perseveres because of her intelligence, determination and faith. Taylor presents the reader with many thought provoking insights into what real happiness in life is all about. Her female characters are strong and memorable. The story gives a vivid portrayl of an experience that many Mexican-American immigrant children may endure. Good conversation book about the issue of immigration along the Mexican/US border.

Reviewed by Neha Kashmiri (age 13) for Reader Views (8/08) Twelve-year-old Maria Perez lives with her mother, Anita, in a poverty-stricken area in Monterrey, Mexico. Maria's father died when Maria was two leaving Anita to do everything she could to ensure their scarce survival. There aren't many jobs in the area and Maria and her mother have to walk more than three miles in the blistering heat to get jobs for the day. But even that is a fight and sometimes they aren't lucky. When things start getting worse Maria's mother has to make a horrific choice. She chooses incorrectly, and Maria is left alone with nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help. Maria ends up in a girl's home, where she meets girls who had been in worse situations than her. Still, all alone, Maria has to learn to fend for herself and develops perseverance and courageousness in the hope of being reunited with her mother. With their old life impossible to return to, what can they do now? How and where can they build another future? Could a better life be waiting across the border? Her honest, hard-working mother can't plan to go to the U.S. illegally, can she? "The Crossing" by Taylor Joseph is a quiet, emotional story about a girl's determination to survive. The fact it was written by a 14-year-old girl in high school was impressive to me. The only two problems I had were that people were unnecessarily detailed and things were repeated. It's a story that hit close to home for me since I have had friends who ended up being deported back to Mexico. I recommend it to people concerned about the illegal immigration crisis.

The plight of a twelve-year-old Mexican girl and her mother is told in the debut novel of fifteen-year-old author Taylor Joseph. The Crossing takes an intimate look at poverty as a catalyst for desperate behavior. This story challenges perspectives on the issue of immigration with its human-focused view of illegal border crossings. Maria Perez and her mother, Anita, live in a rural area of Monterrey, Mexico. The mother and daughter have existed in abject poverty since the death of Maria's father ten years ago. Anita works at a market a few miles away from their home, but makes very little money. She feeds her child mainly with the scrapes of food she is able to gather at the market. Maria assists her mother by getting work at a nearby farm during the summer and on weekends when school is in session. But the work is not consistent and goes quickly to any child who makes the three mile walk the earliest. Food is scarce in the Perez house and when Anita is faced with losing their tiny home due to back taxes, she makes a decision that puts her family in jeopardy. Joseph's story is quite impressive for such a young writer. The piece is highly descriptive, not only of the character's physical surroundings, but of Maria's inner struggles. While there is the occasional interchange of past and present verb tenses in the middle of a paragraph, this first effort is compelling. The reader gets an up close look at how poverty impacts a child's view of the world and herself. When Maria's mother breaks the law in an attempt to better their situation, Maria is sent to a group home. In the prayers and tears that pour from her body nightly, Maria juggles anger, fear, and longing. When she is reunited with her mother and the opportunity to cross the border into the United States arises, the pre-teen also wrestles with ethical issues that challenge her faith. The Crossing will appeal to young and older adults. The story is honest and offers a view of poverty that many readers will have never been exposed to. There are lessons in this book that encompass love and desperation, hard work and unshakeable faith. I highly recommend it.