Tolog Review: Enrique's Journey

Enrique's Journey
by Sonia Nazario
reviewed by Megan Koehler

Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario is an eye-opening and heart wrenching non-fiction book about a boy trying to cross the border and find his mother in the United States. Enrique’s Journey takes place over a span of twenty-three years and tells the true story of a young boy named Enrique and his journey traveling from Honduras across Mexico and into the United States so he can see his mother again. His journey was far from easy, and he faced many difficulties along the way, including hunger, robbery, and drug problems.

On January 29, 1989, Enrique’s mother, Lourdes, left Enrique and his sister, Belky, with family members and departed poverty-stricken Honduras for the United States. Her plan was to get a job in the United States and send money back to her children so that they could go to school past the third grade and eventually move out of their thirty square foot shack. She promised her kids that she would be back in one year. Little did she know, life in the United States was not easy for immigrants and she would break that promise. 

Enrique was seven when his mother left. As a teenager he had trouble at home without his mother. He started getting into trouble at school and getting into drugs at home. He missed his mother so terribly that he decided that he would set out alone and travel across Central America and Mexico to the United States. Eleven years after his mother left him, he left behind his sister and girlfriend in Honduras in search of his mother. He rode on top of trains through Mexico and Central America, in constant fear of falling off or being robbed and beaten by the gang members that control the trains. He finally makes it to the Rio Grande, but cannot get across without the help of a smuggler. He is penniless and does not have his mother’s phone number. Without her help, he has no chance of ever getting across the river and seeing her again.

Enrique’s Journey is a tragic tale of a young boy’s journey to find his mother. It is full of suspense and keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the issue of illegal immigrants in the United States, and to anyone who enjoys stories about adventure and heartbreak. Will Enrique ever cross the Rio Grande and reach his mother in the United States? Read Enrique’s Journey to find out.