The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border By Juan Pablo Villalobos

In the audiobook it was difficult to tell when one story ended and another started, except for the change in narrator. Since it is nonfiction I think every attempt was made to keep the narrative simple and unadorned. And these teens spoke out for themselves. It wrenched my heart that most of them were trying to escape the violence of their countries, but the violence they encountered on the trip to reunite with their families, crossing borders and rivers, staying in cramped trailers or immigration holding cells brought them face to face with violence on a daily basis. I felt like each narrative was beautiful for the story it had to tell but the translation of some of the stories felt a bit stilted, awkward, with out of date language that no teenager would use. I also wanted more from each story. More details. More narrative. I was glad the author wrote an update for them after they reach the United States. But what about all those teenagers whose story never gets told because they never made it? A book you should read to try and understand some if the desperation behind migration of unaccompanied minors.
English A very powerful read.

I read this for the Mock Printz Awards discussion for work and I’m glad I did. Although the writing was simple and straightforward, I like it because it didn’t need anything special to tell these teens’ stories. The stories tell of why and how they got to the US as well as what it was like waiting to get back to their families who lived there. I also liked how a few people’s stories were told at different places in the book. I wish it had a little more of that but I still liked what I read. English Enternededor y rabioso y conmovedor: testimonios de niños y niñas migrantes, la mayoría centroamericanos, contados con estilo. English Every time I read a story, or memoir, about people making the journey to the US to escape the terrible situations in their home country I am moved. I am moved by their bravery, their determination and the sheer strength of will that it takes to make this treacherous journey. This book is more difficult to read because it is the stories of children, some as young as 10, making this journey alone in search of a better life. Their voices as clear and direct, and often difficult to take on because of the enormous weight they carry. A fantastic read that I am glad I bought a class set of.
English Based on interviews conducted in 2016, The Other Side is a non-fiction collection of accounts from minors who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. It is moving, eye-opening, thought-provoking, and very timely, given how much conditions have worsened since 2016. I think this exactly what YA non-fiction should do, opening relatable views into different experiences and starting conversations! This includes stories from young people of various ages from several different Central American countries. We see the realities of what many of them are running from as refugees, harrowing journey to the border, and mixed experiences during and after crossing. It is well worth reading.

However, I do wish this was longer and included a little more discussion and context. At only 160 pages it is quite brief and feels less substantial than I would like. However, the short length and easy-reading narrative might make this ideal for classroom instruction! I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own. English

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no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying-
leave,
run away from me now
i dont know what i’ve become
but i know that anywhere
is safer than here ~Warsan Shire

No human being is illegal and every human being has a fundamental right to seek asylum and refuge.
This collection of stories of teenage refugees fleeing to the US/Mexico border is powerful and deeply moving. Each of the teens tell their stories of the dangers that plagued their cities from the Cartel to gang warfare to poverty to violence that killed their families that led them to make the dangerous treks to seek refuge. From traveling through the unforgiving desert to crossing treacherous rivers to being caged in the 'freezer' cells by US border patrol to the tragic abuses they face along the way these teens tell their truths of the hardships of trying to cross the border.
I recently watched a documentary about the 'iron river'; the trafficking of guns from the US into Central and South America that takes the lives of so many every day (some were even weapons in LAPD custody sold to some of the suppliers of the Cartels). It is a sickening irony that the US floods the iron river with guns but turns a blind eye to the devastation it creates within the countries it spreads to, and then criminalizes the people trying to flee the US-manufactured weapons of destruction in the hands of the Cartels. English En las páginas iniciales del volúmen aparece una advertencia. En ella se menciona que se utilizan técnicas narrativas para preservar el anonimato de los personajes.
Es precisamente a través de estas técnias que estos relatos se convierten no solo en testimonios si no en una hermosa pieza literaria.

El 25 de Septiembre de 2018 tuve la oportunidad de estar en la presentación del libro en Barcelona.
Ahí se platicó sobre el reto y responsabilidad que implicó para Juan Pablo lograr éste compendio.
Las historias por sí mismas son desoladoras. Pero la conducción de cada relato con elegancia y respeto logró estremecerme.

Los últimos años están marcado por una creciente migración humana. El Epílogo de Alberto Arce hace un recuento bastante resumido de las cifras que acompañan a la problemática tan solo de América Central a EEUU.

Este fenómeno es global. En mi opinión, el sistema económico mundial acompañado de la avariacia económica y/o política está tambaleando. Lamentablemente con ello, escucharemos historias de este tipo en cada ocasión más cercanas. No importa dónde nos encontremos.
La pregunta es: ¿hasta cuando lo permitiremos?. English The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border by Juan Pablo Villalobos (translated by Rosalind Harvey ) came to my attention after it made the shortlist of two for this year’s Kirkus Award for Young People’s Literature . It’s a harrowing series of short vignettes about unaccompanied teenage refugees from Central America trying to cross into the US. Though written as if fictitious these are actually the stories of young people the author interviewed at the border. As bold and gripping as the stories are, their brevity is a problem. I wanted to know more about their characters, about why they had been treated so badly, and how long they were detained for. There’s a palpable sense of fear in each of them, which really draws the reader in, but frustratingly Villalobos has only done half a job. English This wasn't bad but I feel as if the stories were too short to make me feel much for them and I think some emotions got lost in translation. English Thanks to Fierce Reads for the advanced reader's copy!

This is one of the quickest books I've read all year, including graphic novels. It's not even 150 pages and all the short stories are 5-10 pages, so it really flies by. I really liked hearing about a specific group of people's struggles on their way to immigrating to America, especially the forces in action that caused them to need to leave their home countries and what they have to persevere through to get where they are. Because of that informativeness, I think this was a valuable read.

However, I'm not sure I loved the format of this. The author interviewed multiple teens and young adults and then spun their answers into first person short stories that grasped the heart of their journey and struggles but lacked any meaningful emotion or detail. It offered a good overview of a selection of different teens, but I think I would have preferred hearing one fleshed out story rather than 10 glimpses of other stories just because I don't think this was super memorable in the end because it only scratched the surface.

Still, if you want to learn more about Central American teens coming to America for a better life and the hardship they had to deal with surrounding that, I think this author faithfully translated their stories without exploiting them at all. English

Award-winning Mexican author Juan Pablo Villalobos explores illegal immigration with this emotionally raw and timely nonfiction book about ten Central American teens and their journeys to the United States.

You can't really tell what time it is when you're in the freezer.

Every year, thousands of migrant children and teens cross the U.S.-Mexico border. The journey is treacherous and sometimes deadly, but worth the risk for migrants who are escaping gang violence and poverty in their home countries. And for those refugees who do succeed? They face an immigration process that is as winding and multi-tiered as the journey that brought them here.

In this book, award-winning Mexican author Juan Pablo Villalobos strings together the diverse experiences of eleven real migrant teenagers, offering readers a beginning road map to issues facing the region. These timely accounts of courage, sacrifice, and survival—including two fourteen-year-old girls forming a tenuous friendship as they wait in a frigid holding cell, a boy in Chicago beginning to craft his future while piecing together his past in El Salvador, and cousins learning to lift each other up through angry waters—offer a rare and invaluable window into the U.S.–Central American refugee crisis.

In turns optimistic and heartbreaking, The Other Side balances the boundless hope at the center of immigration with the weight of its risks and repercussions. Here is a necessary read for young people on both sides of the issue. The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border