Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

Starred Review When Miguel, 15, leaves San Jacinto, Mexico, to join his parents in California, his sister, Elena, 13, secretly follows him. Together with their guides they barely survive a harrowing journey through the desert and across la linea, the border. A gripping contemporary survival adventure, this spare first novel is also a heart-wrenching family story of courage, betrayal, and love. The harsh facts of the border crossing are immediate--the horrors of dehydration, the soldiers' violence, corruption, and the migrants' terrifying, often disastrous attempts to hop the trains. Miguel's first-person narrative tells it without romanticism. The young people are brave, but they are angry at each other and at their parents, who left them seven years before. They do make it, but always there is the reality of those who do not. Jaramillo teaches migrant kids in California, and in her final notes, she says her story is fiction, but it is based on real events. Spanish is a natural part of the text; there is no glossary, and no need for one. Add this to the list of books in the Core Collection: The New Immigration Story.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006)

Miguel and his sister attempt to cross the Mexican border illegally to rejoin their parents, who made the trip to the United States many years earlier. Facing horrible indignity and possible death on their journey, the resilient children also encounter generosity. Jaramillo's first novel is convincing and effective.

School Library Journal

Gr 5 Up-Six years ago, Miguel and Elena's mother and father left Mexico and crossed la l'nea into California. On the morning of Miguel's 15th birthday, he receives a note from his father telling him that it is time for him to join them. Miguel is sad to leave his grandmother and sister behind, but is excited about being reunited with his parents. Unbeknownst to Miguel, Elena, 13, disguises herself and joins him on the difficult journey. They are robbed, threatened, and almost perish in a desperate trek across the desert. The pacing of the plot is quick and driven, and the characters are realistically drawn. They interact as true siblings do, sometimes with love and sometimes not. Cultural and geographical background information is expertly woven into the novel. The author creates a mood of desperation and anxiety as the story unfolds and Miguel and Elena discover that crossing la l'nea will forever change the way they look at themselves and the world. Although the epilogue illuminates their lives as adults, the novel ends abruptly, leaving readers without the anticipated emotional release of their reunion with their parents.-Melissa Christy Buron, Epps Island Elementary, Houston, TX Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A Mexican teen risks everything to emigrate illegally to the U.N.EWSLUGS to join his family and find a new life. his time for six years in a backwater Mexican village, Miguel, his younger sister Elena and his grandmother survive on money his parents send monthly from California. Miguel is convinced his future also lies across la linea in California. On Miguel's 15th birthday, his father finally sends money and instructions for Miguel to head north. But Miguel's careful plans disintegrate when he discovers Elena has followed him. After their bus is diverted south and their money stolen, they are on their own and their only option is to steal a ride on the infamous mata gente , a freight train heading north known as the "people killer." If they survive the ride, they still face a two-day desert trek across the U.S. border. Despite their brother-sister antipathy, Miguel and Elena stick together, escaping one danger after another to cross the border and discover what lies on the other side. A nail-biting real-life adventure. (author's note) (Fiction. 12+)

Voice of Youth Advocates

El Norte represents the celluloid American dream that only those from the outside looking in through television, movies, advertisements, and stories can desire and perhaps willingly sacrifice everything to attain. To all those hungry and desperate souls from Mexico southward, la LÝnea is an unseen line or border that keeps them from their dream. The border is patrolled formally by the U.S. Border Patrol as well as informally by Mexican bandits who rob, rape and often murder the illegal immigrants. The immigrants are often forced to employ coyotes whose trustworthiness is frequently in question to navigate the desert and get them to the border. Miguel has waited seven long years for the money, instructions, and okay from his Papa to start his own perilous journey across la LÝnea, but he did not bargain for his sister, Elena, sneaking along. The two face hardships that leave them with empty pockets and hungry bellies, and turned all the way around. Their dangerous journey is often thwarted by unforeseen variables such as the mata gente or "people killer," a freight train headed north that leaves many illegals who try to jump on it crippled, deformed, and even dead. There are countless pitfalls to the crossing but also many bright spots offered by kind and self-sacrificing countrymen. This well-written account of the perils of illegal border crossing would make a worthwhile read for students studying history, geography, or cultures and is a solid recommendation for both school and public libraries.-Ava Ehde.