Crossing the Wire (review)

Veteran outdoor-adventure writer Hobbs gets in on the heated illegal-immigration debate with this account of a boy's struggle to cross the Mexican border into the U.S. Victor Flores' father died while working as an illegal immigrant in el Norte, so Victor is scared and upset when his best friend, Rico, leaves their hometown of Los Árboles, Mexico for the Arizona border. Financial hardship, however, means Victor himself heads north in search of work just a few days later. Victor sets out without money to pay a coyote (guide), so he must use extra resources and resiliency to find a way across; a few lucky coincidences and some savvy traveling companions mean that despite setbacks he successfully crosses once, but he is eventually arrested and sent back to where he started. Both Victor and Rico do eventually make it to the U.S. unharmed (and miraculously find each other), but the hardships continue beyond the border, leading Rico to return to Mexico. The perspectives of Victor, Rico, and their traveling companions provide a variety of motivations for crossing (extreme poverty, hunger, a chance for a better life) and dangers encountered (being robbed by border gangs, dying of heatstroke in the desert, being beaten or killed by vigilante groups). Hobbs states in an author's note that he is attempting to "put a human face" on illegal immigration, and he is not unsubtle in his sympathies, which leads to some didacticism and stilted dialogue; however, the topic is a worthy one, and the story is a gripping and fast-paced adventure that keeps the reader engaged through the last page. With personal and immediate representations of immigration such as this novel and Jaramillo's recent La Línea (BCCB 5/06), teachers and librarians should have plenty to offer students who want to know more about the debate from a young person's perspective.