The Crossing

Booktalk:

Juárez, Mexico

Thirteen-year-old Manny Bustos is one of many orphans living on the streets, begging for food and coins for survival. With his red hair, long eyelashes, and small-for-his-age stature, Manny is particularly vulnerable to older boy bullies and to adults who would misuse him.

Left as a baby at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow and raised by the nuns for as long as they could support him, Manny was released onto the streets where hunger became his constant friend. Manny had only one hope - to escape across the U.S.-Mexico border to find work and make a life for himself in the North.

When Manny decided this was the day to make a break for freedom, he worked extra hard to keep the tourists' coins that the bullies usually stole from him. With a bag of "borrowed" chicken and tortillas, a parting gift from his friend Maria, Manny waited for dark along with many others who would attempt the crossing that night. But it was not to be - not yet.

Sergeant Robert S. Locke was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, just across the border from Juárez. Each night, the Sergeant crossed into Mexico to get drunk at the Congo Tiki, to get drunk to escape his memories and visitations by the ghosts of his former fellow soldiers, the fallen ones. Driven by fear and self-loathing, Robert, who looks and acts like the perfect soldier, craves the drink that will make him "brain dead," that will keep his departed friends from coming into his mind.

So, on that night, when Manny failed to make the crossing, he found the Sergeant vomiting in the alley behind the Congo Tiki. When Manny tries to lift Robert's wallet, he learns how a trained soldier is capable of defending himself, even when stoned drunk.

In alternating chapters, Paulsen shares the lives of this young teen and seasoned soldier until these two characters' lives become entwined. In the end, they share the violence that is life on the border. Will Manny make the crossing? Will both of these men find the freedom they seek?

Although published in 1987, this story sadly remains timely, particularly for teens living in the Southwest, who are daily exposed to the politics of immigration in the newspaper and on TV news. This fictional account offers readers the opportunity to experience the desperation of young people who find themselves struggling to survive and hoping to make a future for themselves in the United States.

Paulsen's vivid characters and the fast-paced action will keep young adult readers eagerly turning the pages of this book. Engaged in literature discussions, students will surely raise questions about legal and illegal immigration. This book offers students the opportunity to reach for critical literacy. They may respond to this literary experience by taking action such as writing letters to the editor or by investigating and/or getting involved with organizations that deal with border issues.

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