Jaime

Jaime is a preteen boy living with his family in Guatemala. He enjoys playing and going to school, but the threat of the gangs becomes insurmountable after his cousin is killed. He must then find a way to travel through Mexico and into the U.S. to live with his older brother, Tomás in order to make his family proud and keep himself safe. He desires to repay his family and dreams of Guatemala throughout his journey, knowing he may never be able to return.

At the beginning of the novel, Jaime’s cousin Miguel is killed by a dangerous neighborhood gang. His parents and other relatives scrounge up enough money to send him across the border to the United States to prevent the gang for killing him after he refuses to join. He is to travel with his cousin, Àngela, Miguel’s older sister. They survive...