We Are Not From Here

5/14/2021

2020, Philomel Books; 2021 Pura Belpre YA Honor Book

"I hold him and I beg God, please, please, please. I look over at the three of us on the mattress, the way we've stopped laughing. At the way we are staring at me and Pulga here in the desert. But then over there, Chico begins to convulse, and blood comes out of his mouth as he falls. Pulga falls to his knees. And I stare down at my dress, watching as it goes from white to blood-red.

We're dying, my minds tells me.
We're dying.
The image fades."

Jenny Torres Sanchez

Torres, a young adult author, was a high school English teacher who decided to write for people like her students because of the "cool discussions" she had with them about books like the Scarlett Letter and The Great Gatsby. Her other books include The Fall of Innocence; Because of the Sun; Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia, and The Downside of Being Charlie.

Book Synopsis

Pulga, Chico and Peque, three teens, know the dangers of their home town in Guatemala, as well as the threats within their own families. When the dangers become real, the three run from everything they love through Mexico towards the U.S. border.

Young adult novel, 368 pages. An epic journey of danger and resilience by three teens running from the real perils at home toward the unknown in a new country.

Why read this book?

"Moral courage is a special inner strength that motivates children to act on their empathic urges and help other despite the consequences... because moral courage pushes kids from just feeling someone's pain to helping, comforting, and speaking out for those in need."

Michele Borba
UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World

Learning Options

Family Read Aloud Time
We read novels aloud to our children well into their teens and I wish this book had been written then. IF your family is at all concerned about the issue of child migration, read this book as a family. Warning: it's raw and will break your heart.

Classroom Resource
Penguin Classroom offers a superb We Are Not From Here Learning Guide about child migration from Central America.

Learning at Home
The Learning Guide mentioned above is easily adapted for use at home as unit-type lesson for English, history and geography. It also provides developmentally appropriate resources for empathy building actions.