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Crossing the Wire (Paperback)

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4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 Up Ever since his family moved to the tiny village of Los Árboles, Victor has been best friends with Rico. When Rico tells him that he has enough money to pay for a coyote to help him cross into El Norte, Victor is unable to decide if he, too, should go along and look for work or try to feed his family with the pitiful annual corn harvest. The decision is made for him the next day when he discovers that the corn prices have bottomed out and that there is no point in even planting this year. Readers suffer with the 15-year-old as he makes his painful decision to leave his mother and younger siblings and attempts the dangerous border crossing, jumping trains, fleeing thieves and border officials, and suffering from thirst and hunger. His desperation and fear are completely believable as he faces near-death situations and must decide whom to trust. The author deftly weaves information concerning the local geography and customs into the plot. The story is well paced, sustaining readers' attention throughout. Pair this novel with Ann Jaramillo's La Línea (Roaring Brook, 2006) for another fictional view of young people crossing the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Melissa Christy Buron, Epps Island Elementary, Houston, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. As in Ann Jaramillo's La Linea (2006), Hobbs' latest puts a human face on the controversial issue of illegal immigration. No longer able to grow corn profitably in his Mexican village, 15-year-old Victor, who has supported his family since his father's death, resolves to go to El Norte: "It's time for me to do what men from our village have to do." Lacking the money to secure a guide, he ventures to a border town to wait his chance in the "whirlpool" of recent deportees, newcomers, and grizzled mojados ("wetbacks"). Successive attempts find him trekking through mountains and desert, fleeing la migra, and unwittingly becoming entangled with ruthless drug traffickers. Hobbs' effort to show a broad view of the border-crossing experience, often by incorporating the hard-luck tales of Victor's acquaintances, results in a story arc that occasionally feels artificial. But the questions raised here are provocative and worthwhile ("Are [Americans] willing to pick the fruits and the vegetables to fill their grocery stores?"), and the propulsive adventure-and-survival elements will keep Hobbs' core audience hooked. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins (April 10, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060741406
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060741402
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #93,967 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #6 in  Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( H ) > Hobbs, Will
    #8 in  Books > Children's Books > Educational > Explore the World > Fiction > Mexico
    #33 in  Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Homelessness & Poverty

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Will Hobbs
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
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 (3)
3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read And You Might Learn Something, May 16, 2006
By Donald Smith "Ryder" (Woodinville, Washington U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Crossing the Wire (Hardcover)
Once again Will Hobbs has put together a boy's story that leads the reader not only on an adventure but also gives insight into ways of life in which most of us are unfimiliar. Overwhelmed in the knowledge that his mother and little brother will soon end up living on the streets the young lad of Crossing Jordan decides that he must sneak across the American border where there is hope he can make enough money to send home. The adventure is the telling of all the efforts, and failures, the boy must go through to accomplish such a feat.

Mr Hobbs presents a compelling drama that will help young readers understand why so many young Mexican men and boys are willing the risk everything for a better life. Without being preachy he helps the reader understand how some American policies actually force many Mexican farmers into poverty. He presents the risks these people must take. He exposes the corruption of those who offer these poor people a way across the border. Then, when one might expect American border guards to be presented as evil, Mr Hobbs gives us characters who are understanding, yet do a job that they are hired to perform.

Please read this book. Or if you have teenage children, or younger even, have them read it. Not for the sake of taking sides on the immigration issue. But to understand it. To see that there are two sides that need to be seen. CROSSING THE WIRE is one of those books that you read, put it away and figure you'll probably not open it again. BUT, after time it begins to grow on you. You want to read it again.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, May 31, 2006
By Brent Hartinger (Tacoma, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Crossing the Wire (Hardcover)
As an author, I was freaking out about how timely this book was, given all the talk of illegal immigration, etc. Then I read it, and was even more impressed. This is a terrific book, far more interesting than a lot of news stories I've read on the topic, from a master of the genre. I fear it won't get the attention it deserves, solely because it's a YA book.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A very realistic book (coming from me), September 26, 2006
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Crossing the Wire (Hardcover)
I have family members that have expierienced this adventure of "crossing the wire". It is not only hard but its also sad, sad because not only are you suffering but you see other people suffer and that ther can get really tough. This book goes in detaial what one person, Victore Flores had to do to cross. Now if whatever happend to him in the story affects you in any way, just think about all the people that are crossing just to see how it is like here, or even to get money for their family. I think they deserve a little simpathy. Overall this book is a great book to read, you'll get addicted i guarantee it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars a compassionate story of illegal immigration
This is a story everyone should know. We owe it to ourselves to understand why so many Mexicans have been willing to risk their lives to work in the United States. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Judith Haugen

3.0 out of 5 stars crossing the wire-book review
Crossing the Wire
Will Hobbs

Victor Flores is a fifteen-year-old boy living in a small village in Mexico. Read more
Published 6 months ago

5.0 out of 5 stars Jonathan's Irresistible Review


What an awesome book this is about a girl who survives the terrible wave! 15 year old Megan is rich, spoiled, and lives in a valley in spring Pennsylvania where her... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Douglas C. Mort

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for adults to read as well as teens
This was a great story and one adults should read also. Comparing it with adult books I normally read, I would give it 4 1/2 stars.
Published on September 25, 2007 by Kay Thompson

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