Customer Reviews

Return to Sender

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

To the parents of eleven-year-old Tyler Paquette, the family of Mexican workers who have come to live in the trailer on their Vermont dairy farm are angels.

Tyler had actually seen the tractor roll over, trapping his father underneath. He's had horrible nightmares about it ever since. If Tyler had not been there to call 9-1-1, his father wouldn't be alive today. Nevertheless, his father may never recover the full use of his arm and leg and -- given that Tyler's big brother is heading off to college at the end of the summer and his teenage sister is about as likely to help with the cows as my teenage daughter is to help me tend to my dairy goats (NOT!) -- it had been looking like Tyler might never have the opportunity to grow up to become a fifth-generation Vermont family farmer.

"I remember the fear of serpents, the sharp rocks, the lights of la migra. And always, the terrible thirst...I am not sure even this paper can hold such terrifying memories."

Mari is Tyler's age. She is an illegal alien. She has arrived on a bus from North Carolina with her illegal alien father, her two illegal alien uncles, and her two little sisters who were born in North Carolina. Last winter Mari's mom suddenly returned to their homeland in southern Mexico because her mother -- Mari's Abulita -- was dying. Now the family has lost contact with Mama who is hopefully still alive and presumably still trying to sneak across the border and return to North Carolina.

Fearing potential repercussions, Mari's father has persuaded her not to try to actually mail any of the long letters that she has been writing to Mama. But how, then, might the family ever become reunited?

"That is why I am writing, Mama. Not only to tell you where we are moving to, but also because I have nowhere else to put the things that are in my heart. As you always used to tell Papa when he found you writing letters, or just writing in a notebook, 'El papel lo aguanta todo.' Paper can hold anything. Sorrows that might otherwise break your heart. Joys with wings that lift you above the sad things in your life."

Told from the perspectives of Tyler and Mari -- two sixth graders living on a dairy farm in small town Vermont in 2005 -- RETURN TO SENDER is a story of families and hope and opportunities offered by the country I love and am sometimes so proud of -- and opportunities withheld by the country I often haven't understood and have sometimes been embarrassed by.

Why is it that it is a crime for one of these sixth graders to have been born in Mexico? How will it affect things for Tyler to be classmates with Mari, to be in the position of knowing Mari is an illegal alien and -- at the same time -- to recognize that his future as a farmer is so dependent on keeping knowledge of that legal status well hidden? When is it okay -- even admirable -- to participate in breaking laws and when have American heroes participated in doing so?

On the lighter side, RETURN TO SENDER frequently plays with language -- illustrating repeatedly how literal translations of English to Spanish or Spanish to English can lead to amusing misunderstandings.

Just in the past couple of weeks, I have perceived a heightening of fear-based anger related to the economic woes facing so many of us. During an era of panic and fear, a book that so vividly and lovingly illustrates how diverse families are far more similar than they are are different is particularly welcome and essential.

Because Tyler's dad has an accident at the farm, the Paquettes have no choice but to hire illegal Mexican workers if they want to keep farming. At first Tyler does not know what to make of these workers. Why would his father, a patriotic man, do something so illegal? Soon, however, Tyler befriends the oldest daughter of one of the workers. The daughter, Mari, is in Tyler's sixth grade class. Mari's sisters, Luby and Ofie, are American citizens. What will the happen if Mari's family be caught by la migra?

Return to Sender is fantastic read. In no way does Return to Sender say illegal immigration is okay. What it does is show that illegal immigrants are just human beings and need to be treated like ones. This novel shows the hardships illegal Mexicans must endure and addresses why they come illegally.

Return to Sender also included the story of the Cruz sisters' struggle between being American and being Mexican. Mari, being born in Mexico, has always been the closest to her Mexican heritage, but at the farm, she realizes that she is perfectly happy to be in America. Luby and Ofie, on the other hand, are forgetting their Spanish. Sometimes, Mari even has to be the translator between her sisters and her father. Because the sisters' struggle is not the main point of the story, Alvarez barely addresses it. Luckily, the end naturally gives a satisfying conclusion to the story.

What I loved most about Return to Sender was that Alvarez did not sugarcoat anything. By this, I mean she wrote realistically. Many of the things that happen in the story are frightening, and the end is bittersweet. I believe that Return to Sender has the power to change people's opinions on illegal immigration, and I would definitely recommend Return to Sender, especially to middle schoolers.

Julia Alvarez knows how to characterize the blur in the line between right and wrong. She knows how to make it clear that reality and morality are continuums and not dichotomies of this or that, up or down, or yes or no. There are no absolutes. (Now, there's an oxymoron.) We have a long way to go.

Alvarez begins with a young man, her protagonist, Tyler, the younger eleven-year-old son in a family who has survived and thrived by running a dairy farm in Vermont. The family's farming heritage is at risk. Tyler's older brother is away at college, mostly unavailable to help out on the farm without jeopardizing his education and eventual career, and Tyler's father has been injured and disabled, perhaps permanently, in a farming accident. Tyler's father can't do the work he normally did. It is unclear when and if he ever will be able to do the work again. Extended family also can't adequately help out. So paying the bills and keeping the farm is at risk. The family needs help or to change their dynamics: selling the farm, moving from their land, doing something entirely different than farming.

Tyler's parents eventually hire undocumented immigrants --- a couple of men --- to assist with the dairy work. One of the immigrant men is married and has three daughters. The oldest, Mari, slowly becomes Tyler's friend and ally, an unfolding as miraculous as springtime. Mari's mother has disappeared in the murky criminal element that arose to fulfill the void created by ambiguities in United States immigrant policies, underfunded policies that for years tacitly approved of undocumented immigrants coming to the United States to work in jobs that citizens in better times didn't want to do.

The analysis of various notions is tenderly at play in Alvarez's book:
What is a family?
What does it mean to be honest?
What good is it to have a law without compassion, or without implementing it and adequately funding its substantial enforcement?
What does it mean to be a good neighbor and a friend?
What sacrifices are appropriate and necessary of good neighbors and friends? And does all of that that apply only to individuals and not to communities and to nations?
What is charity? Is it a weakness or strength?
What about religion and the mystical, and gazing into the heavens? Hope?

"... life is about change, change, and more change. 'When you're born as a child, you die as a baby. Just like when you're born as a teenager, you die as a child.'... 'But there are good sides even to bad or sad things happening,' my mom reminds me...."

This is a coming of age adventure where a boy and a girl have more love and compassion than the men and the women do, where a couple of families have greater diplomacy toward each other than the greatest nations on earth do for each other. So it would be good to take their advice and look into the heavens and contemplate the beauty of the night before flying apart.

Not just one star but five.

I want to disclose that I know the author, but only slightly, and I lived for many years in both Middlebury and Bridport, Vermont. (Bridport is often called Bridgeport by out-of-staters passing through.) So when I see an acknowledgment to Jerry and Cheryl Connor, who own a large and beautiful farm in Bridport, I know I am in once familiar territory. But those were years ago. Today I live in Miami Beach where Spanish dominates English. So let me begin by saying one of the biggest pluses is how skillfully Dr. Alvarez has incorporated Spanish into the text. It reads so smoothly and should be very inviting to those who do not speak Spanish. And in my opinion, Spanish is a beautiful language to hear. (I also teach writing at a local college. Many of my students speak Spanish as their first language, so unlike what my classrooms were like in Vermont.)
The characters are delightful. When I grew up in Vermont, it was French-Canadians who populated the migrant farm workers. Maybe today there are more Mexicans. This I would not know. But the story is believable and takes the reader through the complete annual cycle of a farm.
However, I could not give this the fifth star for one reason. I have taught all my adult life. Maria's letters are not the letters of a girl her age. I think children and young adults reading this would not object. But as an adult reader--and a voracious one--I don't like having to suspend my belief system for an entire novel. And that is what I had to do because those letters back home to the absent mother in Mari's life are too perfect, letters that a more mature Mari would have composed. Having said that, I realize that the standards for young adult fiction are different than those for adult fiction.
I really wish this book would find its way into hundreds and hundreds of classrooms, probably grade six through eight. This really is a political book--and I am pleased it is.
Now I am wondering if Dr. Alvarez might be writing, say, about a young girl, born in Puerto Rico, who grows up in Brooklyn and becomes a latina woman on the Supreme Court. I might change my mind about young adult Sonia Sotomayor's letters to someone. I suspect she would have written brilliant prose and lengthy too.

Julia Alvarez's new book, RETURN TO SENDER, explores the issue of illegal immigration. Two twelve-year-olds share their connected stories involving this politically sensitive subject.

Tyler's family runs a dairy farm. Up until the sudden death of his grandfather and then his father's farming accident, things had been going well. Now that his older brother is leaving for college, there isn't enough help around to do all that needs doing on the farm.

Tyler returns from a visit to his aunt and uncle's to learn that some new folks have moved into the trailer next door. The new people include a Mexican man, his two brothers, and his three daughters. There seems to be some secret about their presence on the farm that Tyler doesn't understand. They have started helping with the milking and other chores and seem to be a big help for his father; however, his mother seems hesitant to reveal too much information about the family.

From comments around town and the little bit Tyler overhears from his parents' discussions, he finally realizes that they might actually be breaking the law. The new workers are in the U.S. illegally. According to the information Tyler has gathered, not only could these new workers be arrested, but his parents could also be found guilty because they've hired the undocumented workers. Even though they seem to be saving the farm, they could bring more trouble than they are worth.

When school begins in September, Tyler learns that Mari, the oldest daughter, will be in his class. They begin talking and Tyler discovers that Mari is shy but friendly. As their friendship grows, he finds himself not thinking about her questionable status in his country; that is, until she becomes the victim of several cruel bullies in his class. In his attempt to defend Mari, he and his family also become a target. Tyler experiences some difficult times as he struggles to understand loyalty to friends, family, and country.

Mari's voice is heard through letters and diary entries as she recounts her view of living in the United States. Love for her own country and her appreciation for what the U.S. has to offer are both clear as she reacts to the situations around her.

RETURN TO SENDER presents a sympathetic view of the plight of illegal immigrants. It portrays their desire for a better life as well as the help they provide for struggling small farm owners. Though the issue is much more complicated, perhaps this book's message could give today's politicians something to think about.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

"Return to Sender" may focus on the plight of migrant workers, but it is also more than that. Tyler Paquette is grieving the loss of his beloved grandfather, and to top it off, his father is recovering from a horrific accident, one which has left him incapable of running the family farm on his own. Tyler fears losing his family farm and the way of life that is so important to him. Then he discovers that his parents have hired new migrant workers from Mexico (by way of North Carolina), and he wonders why his parents are being so secretive, telling him not to tell his friends and classmates about the new workers. Later, Tyler finds out that these workers are undocumented, and feels conflicted - why would his parents risk so much to hire these people? What if they get into trouble for harboring illegal immigrants? Yet Tyler realizes this may be the only option available to his parents in order to keep the farm going, and the migrant workers appear to be decent, hardworking folk.

Tyler also finds that the eldest daughter of the migrant family, i.e. Mari, is about his age and shares a common interest in astronomy. Over time, Tyler comes to care about Mari, her two younger sisters and the others, and does not wish to see them deported. However, others in the community are not so benevolent and are bent on seeing these migrants sent back to Mexico. Mari, meanwhile, struggles with her own conflicts - her mother has been missing for a while, and as the days pass by, the family's hopes of seeing Mama grow dim.

There is no real happy ending in this story, so it does credibly address some of the real issues having to do with the uncertain life of migrant workers, who literally live from day to day in the hopes that la migra will not arrest them and send them back to a life of poverty, with no means of supporting their families. There is an obvious political message here, but I felt it was well-integrated into the story without a happily ever after ending that would have diluted the story's message. The reality in today's United States is that there are many immigrant students in school without legal status, and it is time that other students, both citizens and legal aliens learn to understand how their peers might feel, living in constant fear. It is not a pleasant subject, but I felt the author did a credible job in weaving a compelling human interest story of friendship, immigrants, and life.

Julia Alvarez takes on America's uneasy immigration policies in her latest young adult offering. RETURN TO SENDER begins with a foreboding incident: 11-year-old Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, and their rural Vermont dairy farm needs immediate help. Hiring an unauthorized immigrant family from Mexico brings a solution to their problems, but young Tyler thinks that saving the farm may not be worth the higher price of breaking the law.

Mari is the oldest of the three daughters in the immigrant family. She is not only dealing with the disappearance of her mother but also beginning a new life far away from the things and people she loves. Alvarez examines Tyler and Mari's friendship, allowing it to blossom under the veil of moral shadows, with each child weighing the plausibility of their situation as well as the fearful expectations of what will come should the authorities find out about Mari's family. As the two grow closer, the intensity of the world's injustices regarding immigration policies becomes even more painful and realistic to them and, thus, to the reader.

Alvarez is a pro, a consummate writer who can find an interesting debate line between right and wrong and still manage to instill a humanistic edge to the discussion. By making the protagonists young, she offers the opportunities that come from youthful observation: the possibility of finding a new way of doing things, the ability to admit when something so cemented in one's culture is not working and must be changed. The rising sense of advocacy for new legal strictures is a fascinating by-product of this story about how young people can reach hands across cultural differences and find a place in the middle that provides a safe harbor for friendship and understanding between others with so much to keep them apart.

Immigration policies are unveiled in an emotional way. The burdens of anger and fear that Mari's family suffers under are palpable in their talk and deeds, and Tyler learns some nasty truths about his homeland that will surely stun and move young people as well as older ones. Julia Alvarez has created a remarkably solid and unforgettable story in RETURN TO SENDER. It transcends all borders and will join together many young readers in a new age.

--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano

Interesting insight,particularly in view of the current immigration crisis,and the special nuances involved. Although the U.S. acquired almost half of the previous Mexican territory in the U.S.-Mexican war, particularly the southwest and California are a natural habitat for Mexicans and part of their heritage.

Roy Caple

I had never heard of this book and it was, therefore, great to see it in my mailbox. I love YA and this book was an easy, enjoyable read.

The storyline is actually quite topical and since this book is mainly aimed at younger audiences, I think it works very well as both an entertaining read and an informative one.

In the opening chapter, we meet Tyler who is eleven years old. He is very sensitive and has had a difficult time dealing with the fact that his father has had a severe accident which could result in the family losing their farms. Tyler is sent away from the farm to relax and experiences another heartache - his grandfather passes away. While Tyler returns to the farm, he is determined to help his dad as best he can in order to make sure the farm is not lost.

On his return Tyler discovers that his family has hired a family of Mexican migrant workers - who are in the country illegally. This adds to the concerns that young Tyler has for the farm. However, in the midst of all this chaos, there is one bright light in the form of Mari - she is the daughter of one of the Mexican workers and Tyler soon befriends her and discovers that Mari has concerns of her own - chief among them how they will be able to stay in the US illegally.

This book was a very deep and touching read. The storyline details very accurately the struggles that many small farming towns must be facing in this day and age and it was very difficult to read some of the passages - to see a family work so hard for all of their life and now have to live the fact that it could all be taken away from them in one sweeping gesture.




I loved how the author wrote two storylines into one here - combining the struggles of two sets of families - almost putting them side to side for us to see how different these families were and yet, at the same time, were going through equally distressing, difficult times.
I thought this book was well written and very informative, certainly for someone like me who has extremely limited knowledge of both the farming issues and the illegal immigrant issues. Which brings me to the characters.

Both Mari and Tyler were wonderfully engaging characters and I like that they were portrayed as smart and resourceful. However, I also thought that the author burden them a little too much with life's responsibilities at such a young age. I mean, these eleven year olds almost sounded like adults at times and perhaps that was part of the author's plan, but it makes me feel as though I would hesitate to give this to my kids - unless they were older. I would still like to see an 11 year old be able to "escape" in a book without having to read about other 11 year olds struggles.


Also, I think this book may have more "staying" power in the areas that are most concerned with farming and perhaps nearer the Mexican border. As a Montrealer, I cannot say that I have any firsthand experience with either and while I think its important to educate our teens out there on the problems of the world, some target audiences may feel a disconnect with two subjects that are so far removed from their reality. Illegal aliens are not a big deal in Montreal certainly and I would wager to say in Canada as a whole and while farming touches everyone, it is also not the huge issue here that it is in the US.

Overall, this book was a satisfying read, but I would definitely suggest it for teens over the age of 14 or so.

Return to Sender deals with many concerns that the idea of illegal immigration brings to mind. However one feels about illegal immigration, this is a worthwhile book to potentially allow the reader to see more than one side to the story of why and how illegal immigration effects the United States and its citizens. I appreciate that the author chose to write about such a controversial topic and to do so in a respectful manner.