From Publishers Weekly
Maria , her brother and sister arrive in the U.S. from El Salvador, jammed inside a nailed crate. Having left their mother and baby sister in Mexico, they are ready to take up the twilight existence of the illegal alien in Chicago. Maria and her siblings not only face extradition if caught, but nearly certain death if returned to their homeland. Sister Julia is pregnant, and it falls to Maria to learn English, look for work and find food for her family. In retelling the plight of Central American refugees, Buss, with the assistance of Cubias, a poet and activist from El Salvador, delicately avoids the obvious and didactic pitfalls in describing this all-too-common problem. By not dwelling on the brutality of the Guardias in El Salvador (who killed Maria's father and Julia's husband) and the numbing details of poverty, she makes this a surprisingly entertaining and hopeful story. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-- Maria, her older sister Julia, and small brother, Oscar, are illegal aliens, having been smuggled into the U. S. nailed in crates and shipped in the back of a coyote's truck. They are Salvadorans from a peasant village whose men have been openly murdered or "disappeared." Their ordeal presages an almost unrelentingly bleak existence, living in poverty on the margins of norteamericano culture in wintertime Chicago. Small events brighten their lives: a friend buys Maria a pack of colored pens with which she creates pictures that she sells for tiny sums; a kind priest gives her a job cleaning his church. The climactic moment arrives when Maria must make a dangerous return trip to Mexico to get her baby sister, left in the care of friends along the way. The theme is indeed a strong one, and characterization suffers under its weight. In spite of the many tragedies these children face, they never really come to life. Thus, while readers will admire Maria's spirit, they are likely to feel detached from her anguish. Buss makes heavy use of symbolism: of birds flying free or guiding followers to safety; of colors, the bright clothes of the Indians, the green feathers of the quetzal; and of the many religious images. The icons of the various virgins that Maria sees are colorful and benign, but cold. The power of events in her life nearly overwhelm her, but a thread of hope, very thin, nevertheless pulls her onward. A worthwhile book, but one that is not totally successful at drawing readers into the world of its characters. --Ruth Semrau, Lovejoy School, Allen, TX
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
