Enrique's Journey

i finished another excellent book yesterday morning. it's by journalist Sonia Nazario. Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother actually began as a series of newspaper stories for the Los Angeles Times. Nazario later continued her research and expanded it into a book that reports on the experience of immigrants--primarily children--who leave central america to come to the united states in search of their mothers. apparently, in the 80s and 90s and on through the present there has been an overwhelming influx of single mothers immigrating to the united states to support their children, as well as other family. they leave their home countries primarily out of necessity to feed and educate their children. their children often end up following years later, hoping to find their mothers who they desperately miss. the children, ages 7 to 17, come with a mix of buried emotions and expectations. they idolize their mothers and resent them simultaneously. the children and other immigrants ride the tops and sides of freight trains through mexico to get to the united states border. they are obviously met by multiple challenges, such as corruption among police and immigration agents who torture and rob the migrants; gangs that steal, rape, and torture them; starvation, dehydration, lack of appropriate clothing; and, of course, the peril of riding the trains at all, which includes loss of limbs, becoming paralyzed, or even death. this book is another important read that offers insights into the experience and motivations of immigration.