I received an ALC from Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review. To be entirely transparent I did a lot of further reading after listening to this book. When I first listened to it it was heartbreaking... but I wanted to be sure I was giving airtime to a credible source. While Jenny herself did not make the journey both of her parents are immigrants from Latin America. As the child of immigrant parents she herself felt as though she lived on the border of two worlds, never quite fitting in to either perfectly.
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Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña are fleeing Guatemala for their lives. They make the long arduous journey after Pulga & Chico witness a brutal murder by some local gang members and Pequeña gives birth to one of the same gang members baby. In order to have a better life and flee the local violence the three teenagers make the hard decision to walk, bus and jump onto La Bestia to get into the US.
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This book was so raw and full of sadness and tragedy, but also filled with hope and love and determination. Two huge themes are the power of friendship and continuing to follow their dreams in-spite of all of the challenges pushing against them. The narrator did a beautiful job bringing this story to life.