In The Country We Love by Diane Guerrero

Diane Guerrero is perhaps best known as Maritza Ramos on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.  When Diane was only 14 years old, her parents were deported back to Colombia and no one in the government seemed to know that they had neglected to find care for Diane, who was left behind.  Diane was born in this country so she is an American citizen and could not be deported.  However, it never seemed to occur to anyone in authority to check to see what happened to her. 

So begins a life of being cared for by friends and neighbors as her life becomes more and more precarious.  This could have been a book filled with negatives and bitterness.  Instead, it is a book about extraordinary people:  Her parents who tried for years to become legal in a broken system; the neighbors who stepped up when they saw a need to help even when they themselves were struggling; classmates and friends who banded together to form a support system and Diane herself, who was forced to assume many adult roles even though she was still a child.

Whatever side of the immigration debate you are on, this is a book that should be read by everyone.  It is important to hear individual stories to understand the faces behind the numbers and to understand how human resilience and love can empower a young girl left behind on her own at a vulnerable age to achieve her dreams.

The Jaguar's Children by John Vaillant

This is an incredible book.  The story takes place mainly inside a converted water truck that coyotes use to smuggle migrants into the United States.  We meet Héctor, who acts as the narrator of the story.  As the water truck trundles toward the American border, something goes wrong with the engine.  The truck is packed with migrants and throughout the book, we realize the increasingly horrendous conditions within the truck.  They coyotes have left the truck and promise to return with a mechanic. 

As the book progresses, the reader quickly realizes that what the coyotes have actually done is to abandon the truck and the migrants to their fate. There is little hope of rescue as the area is desolate and few people traverse the area.  Héctor narrates his story and that of his friend, César, who is also trapped in the truck.  Early in the novel, César is knocked unconscious in a freak accident and Héctor vows to try to keep him alive. César has entrusted his cell phone to Héctor and, it is through this fragile instrument, that the only lifeline may appear.  Héctor finds one phone number that appears to be in the United States, and he frantically messages an unknown person named AnniMac in the hopes that he, or she, will get the messages and send help.  However, the bars on the phone are unpredictable and, although Héctor diligently tries to communicate, it is unclear if the messages are getting through. 

Héctor begins to ruminate on his life and the series of events that brought César and him to this precarious place.  The last third of the book holds many secrets that are revealed and the plot takes a twist.  In the times we live, this is a book that should be a must-read for people interested in migrants and the migrant crises.  The reader truly sees the migrants as human beings trapped in an untenable situation and also explores what humans will do to stay alive.  It is a book that stays with the reader long after the last page is read.