Dreamers

Starred review from July 16, 2018
In warm, sparkling prose that moves easily from English to Spanish and back, Caldecott Honor artist Morales (Viva Frida) traces the journey that she and her small son took in 1994, when they immigrated from Mexico to the United States. (“My Story,” included after the text, supplies the details.) A woman and a child struggle to understand the rules as they explore San Francisco. (When the two play in a public fountain, a policeman approaches, hands on hips; “Ay!” the mother cries in dismay.) Then they discover the library: “Suspicious./ Improbable./ Unbelievable./ Surprising.” It’s a miraculous oasis—countless books to borrow, information about everything in the world. There, she says, “We learned to read,/ to speak,/ to write,/ and/ to make/ our voices heard.” As the languages blend, so do the images. Mexican motifs—a genial skeleton, a painted dog, embroidered flowers—dance through the pages, keeping mother and son company on their journey, and the library shelves swoop and curve, embracing them. (Readers will recognize favorite titles among the carefully painted book covers.) Many books about immigration describe the process of making new friends and fitting in; this one describes what it’s like to become a creative being in two languages, and to learn to love in both. “We are two languages./ We are lucha./ We are resilience./ We are hope.” A Spanish-language version will be published simultaneously. Ages 4–8. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency.

December 15, 2014
“To let the Dreamers speak for themselves” is the goal veteran journalist Truax sets for herself in this account of 10 undocumented young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. She puts a human face on the debate around the proposed DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act. To this end, Truax recounts both the empowerment of activism and traumatic events, including a precipitous deportation and a suicide. Political figures whose actions or inactions affect the lives of the “Dreamers” appear as well: President Obama, often referred to as “Deporter in Chief”; Sheriff Joseph Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., known for draconian enforcement of immigration laws; Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, who’s introduced several versions of the DREAM Act since 2001; and Mohammad Abdollahi, who leads the DREAM Activist Undocumented Students Action and Resource Network. Truax succeeds in conveying how a shadow status permeates the lives of all the young people profiled here, with education, employment opportunities, and essential social services severely limited or unavailable. At its core, Truax’s book is a severe reproach to U.S. immigration law; the appendix, a précis of the 2011 DREAM Act, illustrates the succor it would bring to some but how problematic the policy is for many others.