Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother by S. Nazario

Authors

  • Alexa Romilly

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20361/G2D024

Abstract

Nazario, Sonia. Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother (Adapted for Young People). New York: Delecorte Press, 2013. eBook.

Enrique’s Journey, is the true story of a young boy’s dangerous journey from Honduras to join his mother in America. Enrique’s mother, Lourdes, left her two young children, Belky, 7, and Enrique, 5, in the care of family members in order to move to the United States as a means of financially supporting her two young children. Once their mother left Honduras, Belky found security and love with her mother’s family. Enrique struggled in school and constantly rebelled at home and began to sniff glue. As a result of Enrique’s behaviour, he was passed from family member to family member to raise. Enrique feels abandoned by his mother, and unloved by his extended family, but he dreams of reuniting with his mother in America one day.

Meanwhile, Lourdes has met a man in America and has had a child named Diana. As an illegal immigrant, Lourdes struggles to support herself and her young daughter, but sends money home to her family whenever she can. She constantly thinks of her children that she has left home in Honduras and longs to be reunited with them. She calls home whenever she can, and promises to return home for Christmas every year, but she never fulfills her promise to her children. Lourdes’ unfulfilled promise leads Enrique to resent his mother even more.

After twelve years of separation from his mother and having become clean and sober, Enrique decides to try and join his mother in America. All Enrique has with him is his mother phone number and a little bit of money, but he is sure that he will eventually be with his mother again.

Enrique’s journey is a dangerous one. He is constantly trying to stay ahead of Mexican immigration officers, avoid drug dealers who will try to rob him, and struggles to find food and water along the way. He eventually makes it to America and reunites with his mother, but after such a long separation, Enrique struggles to connect to the mother that he barely knows, and adjust to life in America. Can Enrique and his mother find their way back to each other? Will Enrique adapt to his new life in America? Will he fall back into his drug habit?

While Sonia Nazario wrote her book based upon firsthand accounts from interviews with Enrique, his family, and people Enrique met during his migration to America, the book is written like a novel. Nazario takes the reader into Enrique’s world, and describes his harrowing journey in great detail. Nazario tells a story of hope, despair, fear, loneliness, and love, which is well suited of children 15 and up.

Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars
Reviewer: Alexa Romilly

Alexa Romilly is Grade 5 French Immersion teacher in Coquitlam, BC. Is is currently working on her Masters of Education in Teacher-Librarianship. She loves sharing her love of books with her students.

Published

2015-04-20

How to Cite

Romilly, A. (2015). Enrique’s Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother by S. Nazario. The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.20361/G2D024

Issue

Section

Book Reviews