When fifteen-year-old Miguel’s time finally comes to leave his poor Mexican village, cross the border without getting caught, and join his parents in California, his younger sister’s determination to join him imperils them both.
Take a closer look at La Línea as examined in WOW Review.
- ISBN: 9781596431546
- Author: Jaramillo, Ann
- Published: 2006, Roaring Brook Press
- Themes: Family, Immigrants, Poverty, Survival
- Descriptors: Americas, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Mexico, Realistic Fiction, United States, Young Adult (ages 14-18)
- No. of pages: 144
The La Linea story is an ideal reading for the high-school level classroom to teach them about having goals,dreams, and visions about their future.The story reveals two family members who had a dream to cross the imaginary yet, very distint border, La Linea, to the United States to have a better life. Elena a young vibrant youth disguised herself to go with her brother Miguel. It discribed the mishaps that happen along the journey. And in reaching their destination, it did not meet her expectations. So,she returned to her homeland. The priceless experience will be treasured throughout their lives.
La Linea is a realistic Fiction about two Mexican Teenager who desperately want to join their parents to live in the United States. There desperation is so severe that these teens are willing and motivated enough to put themselves through extreme circumstances. The story line follows the teens in their struggle to cross La Linea.
While reading this story, I was not particularly convinced about the series of events that occur, leading to a lack of engagement. Although La Linea is a Realistic Fiction, it didn’t seem very realistic to me. However, while discussing the novel with a classmate, she was able to explain to me some background knowledge she learned from a documentary seen on T.V. The events from the documentary were similar to some of the events that happened in the story. Perhaps if I had this knowledge before hand, I would have been more engaged.
One thing I enjoyed in with the novel with the integration of palabras en espanol. The integration of words in Spanish could make the novel more engaging for Spanish speaking readers. I would have liked to see this a little bit more.
La Linea is not my favorite book, but it could be a valuable resources in the classroom to teach about immigration and the hardships and reasons for wanting to cross the border.
“And how could I protect Elena when I didn’t have a clue about all the things I was supposed to protect her from?”
These words spoken by Miguel, the protagonist in La Linea by Ana Jarmillo, illustrate the reality of making the perilous trek across “la linea”, the border between Mexico and the United States. Miguel and his sister Ana have parents who made the journey years earlier and are now in California. They recently sent word that it is now time for Miguel, and Miguel only, to follow them. The younger Ana feels abandoned and sneaks away to join Miguel or at least make the trip by herself if it comes down to that.
Both siblings have heard the stories of the dangers inherent in making such a voyage but it’s not until they get a strong dose of experiential learning do they understand that they may have to abort the trip or could even possibly die. Between the corrupt and sadistic police, thugs and thieves around every corner, and the demon mata gente train that indiscriminately kills in a split second, there are enough dangers to make even the most stalwart soul consider rethinking immigrating. Furthermore, once someone has successfully survived the first half of the trip, he must then confront the true demon – the desert. Sun, sandstorms, snakes, scorpions and self-proclaimed militia from the United States await those who have made it thus far. This cornucopia of hazards are the last but most deadly hurdles. However, the promised land lies just on the other side of the desert.
Miguel knows his salvation lies north of la linea but his conflicting emotions about his father demonstrate there is also unfinished business north of la linea. He learns the disturbing truth about why his father has not sent for him earlier. This information colors his entire trip especially as the hardships and dangers mount.
La Linea, though fiction, documents the process of the migration north from Mexico and Central America in a brutally honest and visceral way. It calls into question the notion that the millions of people who suffer and survive the crossing do it solely to live some luxurious lazy life in America. The scores of men, women, and children like Miguel and Ana who take the first step north and do not stop until they step over la linea, are doing so for economic reasons and to reunite with family. Miguel and Ana are lucky because they have each other though that was not the original plan. They quickly learn that there is no room for sibling squabbles. They must work together if they want to stay alive.
“I always thought I’d know exactly the moment I crossed the border … I thought I’d feel it, somehow. But I didn’t even know. I had no idea. How could I not have felt something?” ~ Miguel
There are many questions and options that Miguel considers throughout this book—about his trip to the border, about safety, about his relationship with his sister, about trust, and about identity—and the metaphor and reality of “la linea” frames them all. This is the story of a journey, an internal one of self-reflection and a dangerous, physical journey north, against all odds. It is the journey of a young man who is summoned to go north to the United States to join his parents who made the same trek years ago. Unexpectedly, Miguel’s sister Elena joins him and from that point on, the experience is not what he imagined it would be. Or what the reader imagines can be endured. True to what many immigrants and refugees experience who enter the United States by crossing “la linea” at any cost, the book is unflinching in its description of the risks, violence, faith, courage, desperation and selfless humanity associated with this journey. The author states that she wrote the book for her students—many who have lived this experience. I would say that just as importantly it bears witness for all those who have not survived the crossing.
La Linea tells the heart-wrenching story of two children desiring so much to join their parents in America. It is a similar story that is told in various books, but each story including this one has it’s own elements and still moves the reader to feel for these children and those who made this journey alone. I was pleasantly surprised with the ending of this story because it gives a truthful account of what some immigrants actually felt about America and their hometown once they get to the states. Overall, it is a great story to use in classrooms because there are so many follow up topics that can be researched from this. It can also encourage some students to hear stories from relatives who made a journey such as this.
“La Linea” has all the makings of a border-crossing tale told and re-told countless times in print and in cinema. We are all familiar with the storyline and the predicable outcomes. The one thing that this book has in which it differs from all the others, is that it is told from the perspective of two child heroes fighting to be reunited with their parents in the U.S.
Their sad plight and, to some degree, adventures are related with thrilling and realistic imagery. Much of the story revolves around the infamous MATA GENTE, or Mexican train as it rumbles north covered with unlikely passengers (mostly Mexican children) hitching a free ride north, as close to the U.S. border as they can get. This inevitably leads to a desert border crossing which is barely survived. Unlike many border crossing stories, this one has a happy ending as a final snapshot that is given of the lives of the protagonists many years in the future. They are survivors, and this story is about just that. Survival and illegal immigrants. This book would be a good read for both junior high and high school students, but also is an easy read for adult audiences. I particularly like the mix of Spanish and English within the text, lending to a much more authentic and bilingual approach to the writing style. Non-Spanish speakers will miss out on this unfortunately, but it is a good affect with the mixing of the two languages. The majority of the book is written in English. I give this book 2 thumbs up! It’s also nice to read an illegal immigrant story that ends on a high note.
“La Linea” has all the makings of a border-crossing tale told and re-told countless times in print and in cinema. We are all familiar with the storyline and the predicable outcomes. The one thing that this book has in which it differs from all the others, is that it is told from the perspective of two child heroes fighting to be reunited with their parents in the U.S.
Their sad plight and, to some degree, adventures are related with thrilling and realistic imagery. Much of the story revolves around the infamous MATA GENTE, or Mexican train as it rumbles north covered with unlikely passengers (mostly Mexican children) hitching a free ride north, as close to the U.S. border as they can get. This inevitably leads to a desert border crossing which is barely survived. Unlike many border crossing stories, this one has a happy ending as a final snapshot that is given of the lives of the protagonists many years in the future. They are survivors, and this story is about just that. Survival and illegal immigrants. This book would be a good read for both junior high and high school students, but also is an easy read for adult audiences. I particularly like the mix of Spanish and English within the text, lending to a much more authentic and bilingual approach to the writing style. Non-Spanish speakers will miss out on this unfortunately, but it is a good affect with the mixing of the two languages. The majority of the book is written in English. I give this book 2 thumbs up! It’s also nice to read an illegal immigrant story with a happy ending.
Maps, disguises,
Monies sewn into linings and strapped onto bellies,
busy mercados, secret doors, coyote code words, hunger, thirst,
soot filled lungs from “people killing trains”, men with guns,
gangs, robbers, scorpions and snakes.
Intermix these images with terrifying ghost stories the stage for the journey of the Miguel, Elena, and Javi to cross la linea.
Yet, does la linea represent this mystical line of change, the threshold to Miguel’s and Elena’s happiness, the storybook ending of an immigrant reaching El Norte? On the contrary, the “phone call” chapter reveals Elena went back to her grandmother’s ranchero saying, “El Norte never measured up to what she imagined it would be” and reflective Miguel realizes he “didn’t understand that there are thousands of lineas to cross in life” and sometimes you don’t even know you’ve crossed them until you’ve looked back.” We leave the book and Miguel’s journey with the loneliness of an undocumented immigrant who can’t visit his old home without the fear of coming back… “There’s no belonging-here or in San Jacinto or anywhere-without longing.” –Miguel