Will she find her voice?

I always like books written by Pam Munoz Ryan, and Becoming Naomi Leon was no exception.  Naomi and her brother Owen are being raised in the Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho by Gram, their loving guardian since their mother abandoned them years ago.  It's a happy life until their mom (now going by the new name of Skyla) unexpectedly shows up with her nasty boyfriend Clive; they're planning on taking Naomi (but not Owen) with them to Las Vegas to be a babysitter for Clive' daughter.  Skyla's obviously got a lot of problems, but she may legally be allowed to take Naomi.  Gram takes the kids - and the trailer - down to Mexico in search of the children's father, hoping he can help.  Naomi's feelings and effort to speak up for herself, her Mexican heritage that she learns more about, and the love and strength of those who truly care are richly and warmly described.  Will Naomi finally make her voice heard when she's in front of the judge?

Desperate to cross

La Linea by Ann Jaramillo will give you an idea of how desperate some people are to get into the U.S. Years ago, Miguel and Elena's parents left them in Mexico for California. On Miguel's 15th birthday, he receives a note from his father, with enough money for Miguel to make the illegal crossing across la linea himself. However, his carefully laid plans are shattered when he finds that Elena has followed him. After most of their money is stolen and they're on their own, their only option is to hop the mata gente, a northbound freight train known as the "people killer" because of the extreme danger involved. Although the story line resembles that of Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs, La Linea is much grittier, telling more about the realities of crossing: the effects of dehydration, the violence of soldiers, the betrayal and corruption. I had a little bit of trouble with the amount of Spanish words in the text, but I was able to figure out enough to understand what was going on. A frightening, real-life adventure.