A journey toward hope by Victor Hinojosa and Coert Voorhees, illustrated by Susan Guevara

 

 Allessandra is ten. She leaves her home in Guatemala to find her mother who left to look for work four years ago. Laura is thirteen and her brother Nando is seven. Their parents are sending them on a journey from El Salvador to their aunt and uncle in the US. Rodrigo is from Honduras and is fourteen. He leaves his little sister behind to try to make it to Nebraska to join his parents.

These four have a dangerous journey ahead of them, together and alone. They will travel through jungles, across borders, and travel on La Bestia, the train that crosses most of the continent. They will be hungry, cold, and risk injury. However, they will also meet many kind people who share the little they have with them. Thoughts of their families and hope for the future strengthen them and, after they meet at various stages of the journey, they work together to stay safe.

This journey ends as they approach the border, but as they contemplate crossing into another new country and requesting asylum, they are full of hope.

The soft, pastel pictures do not depict the dangers of the journey too graphically, but they are still realistic, showing loneliness, hunger, and injury. Fanciful creatures in the background speak to the children's own cultures and dreams. Nando, whose name means monkey, has a monkey in the background as he shows off his speed and stays close to his sister. Rodrigo means jaguar, and he protects and cares for the new friends he meets along the way. A raging beast crouches on top of the La Bestia, the dangerous train that transports them. Allesandra's butterfly keeps them full of hope and inspires them to keep going.

Back matter explains the project that inspired this story, The Global Hunger and Migration Project and gives more background on the journey these children take, what awaits them in the United States, and the true stories behind their composite portraits. There is also a note from the artist, explaining the significance of the glyphs and figures in the art.

This isn't something I would read aloud in storytime, but I would absolutely recommend it for reading and discussion in an elementary classroom, especially when talking about immigration, past and present (I would assume teachers would be aware of their students' past experiences so they are not touching on personally painful or traumatic subjects if they have any migrants with similar experiences.) Although it touches on painful realities, and adults will realize that the children's lives in the US, if they are admitted, may be just as hard and difficult as the lives they left, it is a story full of hope and invites readers to understand and help migrants in their own communities.

Verdict: A necessary purchase, best included in tough topics or teaching sections.

ISBN: 9781644420089; Published August 2020 by Six Foot Press; Review copy provided by the publisher; Donated to the library (A Spanish-language copy was also provided and I donated that to a neighboring library with a larger Spanish-speaking population than my own community.)