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ENRIQUE’S JOURNEY

The story of a boy’s dangerous odyssey to reunite with his mother.

by Sonia Nazario ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2006

This portrait of poverty and family ties has the potential to reshape American conversations about immigration.

An expanded version of Nazario’s Pulitzer Prize–winning articles, originally published in the Los Angeles Times , about the harrowing journey hopeful immigrants take from Central America through Mexico into the U.S.

The twist on this familiar story is that in recent years, a growing number of America’s illegal immigrants are women. Unable to feed and clothe their children, they leave their homes in Honduras or Guatemala and head for a better life in el Norte. Once in America, Mami sends back as much money as she possibly can and promises to return to her children as soon as she builds up a nest egg. But low-paying jobs as nannies or maids don’t allow the women to save much, so immigrant mothers don’t return home for years, if ever. Their children, too young to understand the heartbreaking calculus of economics and maternal self-sacrifice, feel abandoned. Some of them eventually undertake the pilgrimage through Mexico and across the border, hoping to reunite with their mothers. Nazario’s account focuses on Enrique, left in Honduras by his mother Lourdes when he was six. Eleven years later, he decides it is time to find her. He must avoid immigration offices, who would send him back home, and the gangsters who regularly steal from, rape and even murder migrants. Enrique risks his life, riding through Mexico on the roofs of what child migrants call El Tren de la Muerte (the Train of Death). Enrique makes it to North Carolina, but he and Lourdes are in for an emotional shock. During the long years of separation, mother and son have idealized one another; their reunion exposes resentments that have festered over the years.

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2006

ISBN: 1-4000-6205-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2006

CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | ISSUES & CONTROVERSIES | GENERAL CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES

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ENRIQUE'S JOURNEY

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by Sonia Nazario

WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR

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WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR

by Paul Kalanithi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 19, 2016

A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...

A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.

Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”

Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6

Page Count: 248

Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015

GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | GENERAL CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES

GOOD ECONOMICS FOR HARD TIMES

GOOD ECONOMICS FOR HARD TIMES

by Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 12, 2019

Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.

“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.

It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty , 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.

Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0

Page Count: 432

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019

GENERAL CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | GENERAL BUSINESS | CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES | BUSINESS | PUBLIC POLICY | ISSUES & CONTROVERSIES | ECONOMICS

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enrique's journey a boy left behind

Enrique's Journey

By sonia nazario.

  • Enrique's Journey Summary

Enrique ’s Journey chronicles the life of a young Central American boy, and his quest to reunite with a mother who left him at the age of five to find work in the United States.

Enrique's mother, Lourdes , struggles in Honduras to support her young children, Belky and Enrique. She knows she will not be able to send her son and daughter to school past the third grade, and does not want them to grow up as she did, in extreme poverty. Like many other single Latina mothers in the recent decades, Lourdes leaves her home and family to travel to the United States so that she might send money home for her children.

Young Enrique has no idea why his mother has left, and his family in Honduras does not give him straight answers. Over the years, Enrique is shuffled from one family home to another, while his sister Belky attends a good school and is well cared for by their aunt. Enrique is forced to sell food and spices when still a child, in order to help pay for family expenses. He lives with his paternal grandmother for most of his young life, but is eventually kicked out of her home when he begins to rebel. Frustrated with his mother, his own issues of abandonment, and the death of his beloved uncle, Enrique turns to drugs for comfort. His family and his girlfriend, María Isabel, try to intervene but make little headway.

In the meantime, Lourdes discovers that life in the United States is more difficult than she expected. She works a series of low-paying jobs, and becomes pregnant. After she gives birth to her daughter, Diana , Lourdes loses her factory job, and becomes a fichera, a type of prostitute. Eventually, she finds steady work again, and is able to send money, clothing, and toys to her children in Honduras.

Although Enrique and Belky appreciate the gifts, they are no substitute for their mother’s physical presence. Enrique’s drug problems continue to escalate until his drug dealer threatens to kill his cousin over unpaid debts. Enrique steals his aunt’s jewelry to pay off his dealer, but is caught by the police. Later, he is kicked out of his home again, and although he does not want to leave María Isabel, who is pregnant with their child, Enrique feels compelled to journey to his mother, the only person he believes might understand and love him.

So begins Enrique’s journey through Central America and Mexico on his way to the United States. He departs with little money, a change of clothes, and his mother’s phone number written on a scrap of paper. Enrique attempts the dangerous journey eight times before he succeeds. During his first seven attempts, he is severely beaten, robbed, deported, and humiliated. However, he never gives up.

To travel north, Enrique, like other migrants, rides the tops of freight trains, a most dangerous endeavor. Many migrants have been killed on the trains, by being pulled under the wheels or by falling off. Gangsters rule the tops of the trains, robbing, beating, raping, and killing migrants. Bandits and robbers are also a threat. Equally dangerous are corrupt police officers and la migra , the Mexican immigration officers who have been known to rob migrants before deporting them. Lastly, migrants must weather the threats of starvation, dehydration, and exhaustion. Many migrants fail to make it as far as the U.S./Mexican border, but Enrique is not one of them.

On his eighth attempt north, Enrique waits on the banks of the Rio Grande in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. It is a dangerous setting, but he is protected as part of a small encampment. He raises enough money to call his mother, who helps pay for a smuggler to take him across the river and into the United States. Enrique crosses the river in an inner tube and is taken to Orlando, Florida. He is soon reunited with his mother for the first time in over a decade. He and Lourdes embrace each other, but they do not cry. Soon enough, he moves in with Lourdes and her roommates, and begins to work.

The idealized reunion they both imagined is soon shattered by reality. Like many children who travel north to find their parent(s) in the United States, Enrique had created a larger than life image of his mother; he felt that if he found her, all of his troubles would go away. Lourdes, on the other hand, expects respect for the sacrifices she had made, but is met only with resentment and occasional cruelty. Enrique returns to using drugs and alcohol as a means of coping with his disappointment.

Meanwhile María Isabel is raising their daughter, Jasmín , in Honduras. Enrique, like Lourdes before him, sends money to his girlfriend and baby. Enrique wants to save enough money to hire a smuggler to bring María Isabel to the Untied States, so that they might work together to provide a better life for their daughter. Initially his personal problems and conflict with Lourdes distract him from sending much money back. However, time passes and he comes to peace with his resentments, and saves more. After these few years of indecision and miscommunication, Enrique pays a smuggler to bring María Isabel to the United States. Jasmín remains in Honduras, to be cared for by Belky.

Throughout Enrique’s Journey , Sonia Nazario exposes the harsh realities of immigration. In many ways, her own perspective is as much a character as Enrique is. She suggests that the separation between a mother and her child, as experienced by Lourdes and Enrique, is not beneficial in the long run. Resentment, anger, and frustration lead to lasting emotional damage and misunderstandings. Nazario also explores the many questions - political, social, economic, and personal - of immigration through interviews and explanations as Enrique makes his journey. However, these many problems are ultimately presented as less profound than that of family deterioration.

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Enrique’s Journey Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Enrique’s Journey is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

WHAT IS ENRIQUE FORCCED TO DO UPON RINALY REACHING THE AMERICAN SIDE OF THE RIO GRANDE

In order to remain undetected, Enrique and the others must wait for an hour in a half in a freezing creek into which a sewage treatment plant dumps refuse.

Why is crossing the river so difficult?

For Enrique, crossing the river by himself is dangerous. He cannot swim and if he's caught, he will be deported.

They are put in detention centers and sent back. The detention centers ar cramped full of crooks and people that exploit them.

Study Guide for Enrique’s Journey

Enrique's Journey study guide contains a biography of Sonia Nazario, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

  • About Enrique's Journey
  • Character List

Essays for Enrique’s Journey

Enrique's Journey essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario.

  • Criticism, Sympathy, and Encouragement: Depicting the American Dream in 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Enrique's Journey'

Lesson Plan for Enrique’s Journey

  • About the Author
  • Study Objectives
  • Common Core Standards
  • Introduction to Enrique's Journey
  • Relationship to Other Books
  • Bringing in Technology
  • Notes to the Teacher
  • Related Links
  • Enrique's Journey Bibliography

“Enrique’s Journey: The Boy Left Behind” by Sonia Nazario Report (Assessment)

Sonia Nazario, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Loss Angeles Times wrote a book by the title: “Enrique’s Journey: The Boy Left Behind”. The book talks of a boy by the name of Enrique who was left in his own country, Honduras at the age of five with her relatives by her mother (Lourdes).Lourdes went to United state in search for better life for her family with an aim of coming back soon but this did not happen as life did not turn out as she thought. Enrique became impatient after waiting for her mother for a long time and risks going to look for her. His efforts failed for seven times because of the many obstacles he met on the way. However, on the eighth time, he succeeded and united with his mother (Nazario 234).

Before Enrique went to US, he had a girlfriend by the name Marie Isabel who gave birth to a daughter and kept hoping he will be able to bring his wife in US (Nazario 234).

However, this did not happen which prompted Isabel to leave her child behind in search for a better life. I strongly agree that leaving while very young to go and look for their parents is a great risk unless they were big enough and had spent ample time with their parents before they were left.

One of the key issues that make people go to the US and other developed countries is poverty, that is, they are unable to provide basic needs for their children. People migrate with a hope that they will get good jobs with good pay that will enable them to bring up their children and families in a better way. I can identify with the situation as from the experience of friends who leave for US since they feel that the money they are getting in their own country is not enough to meet all their needs. For example, from Enrique’s story, Lourdes left her very young child for the US in search of better life so that she could be able to pay for his school fees and hoped she would be back soon. However it seems that her expectations were not achieved.

It seems that people do not get jobs as fast as they expect, a good quote is, ‘’hurry hurry has no blessings’’.Lourdes struggled in US before securing a good job and she did not return as she had promised her son which made him to miss her so much(Nazario 50). This is a very regular case as many people have even stayed for as long as ten years before coming back to their country or fails to come back at all. Most of the children left are so young such that if they were left with their relatives they will consider them as their parents. Of great concern is how a child can stay for ten years and then start looking for his or her parents. Furthermore, there is a saying that says, “giving birth to a child is not a deal the deal is bringing up that child’’.However,even if the children are big enough to look for their parents they faces a lot of

problems which may even result in their death or take long before they are united with their parents.

There are many risks associated with immigration. For example, one takes a very long time before getting a visa or opt not even to look for it because of lack of funds. Another problem especially for young children is being hijacked and made to be slaves or raped. For instance, from the story, Enrique failed for seven times before he could be united back with his mother. This arose from being beaten on the way by gangsters, jailed, robbed and sometimes deported but due to his courage, the eighth time he is reunited with his mother. My concern and question is how many people will persevere for all those times looking for their people before they get them.

This is a very common incidence in the news currently about children who went looking for their parents only to become slaves.Moreover, even if these children are united with their parents, there will be no positive gain.

As clearly stated in the book, Enrique was not in good terms with her mother even after uniting as he could not respect him since during that time, his mother was not around. As a result, some resentment was developed (Nazario 312). Therefore all his efforts of wanting to meet his parent do not bear much fruits compared to the struggle he went through. Moreover, the issue of immigration in search of the members of the family just keeps on bringing a lot of problems instead of bringing the problems that excited first to an end.

Enrique had a girlfriend before he went to the US and while still there, her girlfriend gave birth to a daughter and after waiting for long for her boyfriend to go for her and take her to the US.There was no positive response such that she brought up the child all by herself. In the fourth year, Marie Isabel also thought of going to look for ways of bettering her life and went to the US leaving her son behind and I think even after meeting with his husband, they were not in good terms because of leaving her behind. In addition, their daughter who was left behind grew up without a parent and so the situation was going from bad to worse (Nazario 320). The solution to bettering our life is not migration but looking for a permanent solution.

According to the reading, it is important for individuals to fight against poverty and be willing to share with those who do not have. In addition we should examine every story before we believe it and work towards it. One of the best ways of evaluating a story is to survey a good number of immigrant children and find out the reasons of immigrations and experiences they have gone through.

In conclusion, most people move to other countries with the aim of bettering their life and leave their children behind with relatives even at a very tender age. To most extents, their expectations are not met such that they stay in the US or any other country more than they thought. As a result, some of children moved by the love of their parents go to look for them but face a lot of cruelty like being beaten, lack of food but some members of society show them some kindness.

Works cited

Nazario, Sonia. Enrique’s journey: the boy left behind . 2006. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2021, December 23). "Enrique’s Journey: The Boy Left Behind" by Sonia Nazario. https://ivypanda.com/essays/enriques-journey-the-boy-left-behind-by-sonia-nazario/

""Enrique’s Journey: The Boy Left Behind" by Sonia Nazario." IvyPanda , 23 Dec. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/enriques-journey-the-boy-left-behind-by-sonia-nazario/.

IvyPanda . (2021) '"Enrique’s Journey: The Boy Left Behind" by Sonia Nazario'. 23 December.

IvyPanda . 2021. ""Enrique’s Journey: The Boy Left Behind" by Sonia Nazario." December 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/enriques-journey-the-boy-left-behind-by-sonia-nazario/.

1. IvyPanda . ""Enrique’s Journey: The Boy Left Behind" by Sonia Nazario." December 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/enriques-journey-the-boy-left-behind-by-sonia-nazario/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""Enrique’s Journey: The Boy Left Behind" by Sonia Nazario." December 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/enriques-journey-the-boy-left-behind-by-sonia-nazario/.

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Enrique’s Journey | Chapter Two: Badly Beaten, a Boy Seeks Mercy in a Rail-Side Town

enrique's journey a boy left behind

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The day’s work is done at Las Anonas, a rail-side hamlet of 36 families in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, when a field hand, Sirenio Gomez Fuentes, sees a startling sight: a battered and bleeding boy, naked except for his undershorts.

It is Enrique.

He limps forward on bare feet, stumbling one way, then another. His right shin is gashed. His upper lip is split. The left side of his face is swollen. He is crying.

Gomez hears him whisper, “Give me water, please.”

The knot of apprehension in Sirenio Gomez melts into pity. He runs into his thatched hut, fills a cup and gives it to Enrique.

“Do you have a pair of pants?” Enrique asks.

Gomez dashes back inside and fetches some. There are holes in the crotch and the knees, but they will do. Then, with kindness, Gomez directs Enrique to Carlos Carrasco, the mayor of Las Anonas. Whatever has happened, maybe he can help.

Enrique hobbles down a dirt road into the heart of the little town. He encounters a man on a horse. Could he help him find the mayor?

“That’s me,” the man says. He stops and stares. “Did you fall from the train?”

Again, Enrique begins to cry.

Mayor Carrasco dismounts. He takes Enrique’s arm and guides him to his home, next to the town church. “Mom!” he shouts. “There’s a poor kid out here! He’s all beaten up.” Carrasco drags a wooden pew out of the church, pulls it into the shade of a tamarind tree and helps Enrique onto it.

Lesbia Sibaja, the mayor’s mother, puts a pot of water on to boil and sprinkles in salt and herbs to clean his wounds. She brings Enrique a bowl of hot broth, filled with bits of meat and potatoes.

He spoons the brown liquid into his mouth, careful not to touch his broken teeth. He cannot chew.

Townspeople come to see. They stand in a circle. “Is he alive?” asks Gloria Luis, a stout woman with long black hair. “Why don’t you go home? Wouldn’t that be better?”

“I am going to find my mom,” Enrique says, quietly.

He is 17. It is March 24, 2000. Eleven years before, his mother had left home in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to work in the United States. She did not come back, and now he is riding freight trains up through Mexico to find her.

Gloria Luis looks at Enrique and thinks about her own children. She earns little; most people in Las Anonas make 30 pesos a day, roughly $3, working the fields. She digs into a pocket and presses 10 pesos into Enrique’s hand.

Several other women open his hand, adding 5 or 10 pesos each.

Mayor Carrasco gives Enrique a shirt and shoes. He has cared for injured immigrants before. Some have died. Giving Enrique clothing will be futile, Carrasco thinks, if he can’t find someone with a car who can get the boy to medical help.

Adan Diaz Ruiz, mayor of San Pedro Tapanatepec, the county seat, happens by in his pickup.

Carrasco begs a favor: Take this kid to a doctor.

Diaz balks. He is miffed. “This is what they get for doing this journey,” he says. Enrique cannot pay for any treatment. Why, Diaz wonders, do these Central American governments send us all their problems?

Looking at the small, soft-spoken boy lying on the bench, he reminds himself that a live migrant is better than a dead one. In 18 months, Diaz has had to bury eight of them, nearly all mutilated by the trains. Already today, he has been told to expect the body of yet another, in his late 30s.

Sending this boy to a doctor would cost the county $60. Burying him in a common grave would cost three times as much. First, Diaz would have to pay someone to dig the grave, then someone to handle the paperwork, then someone to stand guard while Enrique’s unclaimed body is displayed on the steamy patio of the San Pedro Tapanatepec cemetery for 72 hours, as required by law.

All the while, people visiting the graves of their loved ones would complain about the smell of another rotting migrant.

“We will help you,” he tells Enrique finally.

He turns him over to his driver, Ricardo Diaz Aguilar. Inside the mayor’s pickup, Enrique sobs, but this time with relief. He says to the driver, “I thought I was going to die.”

An officer of the judicial police approaches in a white pickup. Enrique cranks down his window. Instantly, he recoils. He recognizes both the officer and the truck.

The officer, too, seems startled.

For a moment, the officer and the mayor’s driver discuss the new dead immigrant. Quickly, the policeman pulls away.

“That guy robbed me yesterday,” Enrique says. The policeman and a partner had taken 100 pesos from him and three other migrants at gunpoint in Chahuites, about five miles south.

The mayor’s driver is not surprised. The judicial police, he says, routinely stop trains to rob and beat immigrants.

The judiciales--the Agencia Federal de Investigacion--deny it.

In San Pedro Tapanatepec, the driver finds the last clinic still open that night.

Perseverance

When Enrique’s mother left, he was a child. Six months ago, the first time he set out to find her, he was still a callow kid. Now he is a veteran of what has become a perilous children’s pilgrimage to the north.

Every year, experts say, an estimated 48,000 youngsters like Enrique from Central America and Mexico enter the United States illegally and without either of their parents. Many come looking for their mothers. They travel any way they can, and thousands ride the tops and sides of freight trains.

They leap on and off rolling train cars. They forage for food and water. Bandits prey on them. So do street gangsters deported from Los Angeles, who have made the train tops their new turf. None of the youngsters have proper papers. Many are caught by the Mexican police or by la migra, the Mexican immigration authorities, who take them south to Guatemala.

Most try again.

Like many others, Enrique has made several attempts.

The first: He set out from Honduras with a friend, Jose del Carmen Bustamante. They remember traveling 31 days and about 1,000 miles through Guatemala into the state of Veracruz in central Mexico, where la migra captured them on top of a train and sent them back to Guatemala on what migrants call el bus de lagrimas, the bus of tears. These buses make as many as eight runs a day, deporting more than 100,000 unhappy passengers every year.

The second: Enrique journeyed by himself. Five days and 150 miles into Mexico, he committed the mistake of falling asleep on top of a train with his shoes off. Police stopped the train near the town of Tonala to hunt for migrants, and Enrique had to jump off. Barefoot, he could not run far. He hid overnight in some grass, then was captured and put on the bus back to Guatemala.

The third: After two days, police surprised him while he was asleep in an empty house near Chahuites, 190 miles into Mexico. They robbed him, he says, and then turned him over to la migra, who put him, once more, on the bus to Guatemala.

The fourth: After a day and 12 miles, police caught him sleeping on top of a mausoleum in a graveyard near the depot in Tapachula, Mexico, known as the place where an immigrant woman had been raped and, two years before that, another was raped and stoned to death. La migra took Enrique back to Guatemala.

The fifth: La migra captured him as he walked along the tracks in Queretaro, north of Mexico City. Enrique was 838 miles and almost a week into his journey. He had been stung in the face by a swarm of bees. For the fifth time, immigration agents shipped him back to Guatemala.

The sixth: He nearly succeeded. It took him more than five days. He crossed 1,564 miles. He reached the Rio Grande and actually saw the United States. He was eating alone near some railroad tracks when migra agents grabbed him. They sent him to a detention center, called El Corralon, or the corral, in Mexico City. The next day they bused him for 14 hours, all the way back to Guatemala.

It was as if he had never left.

This is his seventh try, and it is on this attempt that he suffers the injuries that leave him in the hands of the kind people of Las Anonas.

Here is what Enrique recalls:

It is night. He is riding on a freight train. A stranger climbs up the side of his tanker car and asks for a cigarette.

Trees hide the moon, and Enrique does not see two men who are behind the stranger, or three more creeping up the other side of the car. Scores of migrants cling to the train, but no one is within shouting distance.

One of the men reaches a grate where Enrique is sitting. He grabs Enrique with both hands.

Someone seizes him from behind. They slam him face down.

All six surround him.

Take off everything, one says.

Another swings a wooden club. It cracks into the back of Enrique’s head.

Hurry, somebody demands. The club smacks his face.

Enrique feels someone yank off his shoes. Hands paw through his pants pockets. One of the men pulls out a small scrap of paper. It has his mother’s telephone number. Without it, he has no way to locate her. The man tosses the paper into the air. Enrique sees it flutter away.

The men pull off his pants. His mother’s number is inked inside the waistband. But there is little money. Enrique has less than 50 pesos on him, only a few coins that he has gathered begging. The men curse and fling the pants overboard.

The blows land harder.

“Don’t kill me,” Enrique pleads.

His cap flies away. Someone rips off his shirt. Another blow finds the left side of his face. It shatters three teeth. They rattle like broken glass in his mouth.

One of the men stands over Enrique, straddling him. He wraps the sleeve of a jacket around Enrique’s neck and starts to twist.

Enrique wheezes, coughs and gasps for air. His hands move feverishly from his neck to his face as he tries to breathe and buffer the blows.

“Throw him off the train,” one man yells.

Enrique thinks of his mother. He will be buried in an unmarked grave, and she will never know what happened.

“Please,” he asks God, “don’t let me die without seeing her again.”

The man with the jacket slips. The noose loosens.

Enrique struggles to his knees. He has been stripped of everything but his underwear. He manages to stand, and he runs along the top of the fuel car, desperately trying to balance on the smooth, curved surface. Loose tracks flail the train from side to side. There are no lights. He can barely see his feet. He stumbles, then regains his footing.

In half a dozen strides, he reaches the rear of the car.

The train is rolling at nearly 40 mph. The next car is another fuel tanker. Leaping from one to the other at such speed would be suicidal. Enrique knows he could slip, fall between them and be sucked under.

He hears the men coming. Carefully, he jumps down onto the coupler that holds the cars together, just inches from the hot, churning wheels. He hears the muffled pop of gunshots and knows what he must do. He leaps from the train, flinging himself outward into the black void.

He hits dirt by the tracks and crumples to the ground. He crawls 30 feet. His knees throb.

Finally, he collapses under a small mango tree.

Enrique cannot see blood, but he senses it everywhere. It runs in a gooey dribble down his face and out of his ears and nose. It tastes bitter in his mouth. Still, he feels overwhelming relief: The blows have stopped.

He recalls sleeping, maybe 12 hours, then stirring and trying to sit. His mind wanders to his mother, then his family and his girlfriend, Maria Isabel, who might be pregnant. “How will they know where I have died?” He falls back to sleep, then wakes again. Slowly, barefoot and with swollen knees, he hobbles north along the rails. He grows dizzy and confused. After what seems to be several hours, he is back again where he began, at the mango tree.

Just beyond it, in the opposite direction, is a thatched hut surrounded by a white fence.

It belongs to field hand Sirenio Gomez Fuentes, who watches as the bloodied boy walks toward him.

At the clinic, Dr. Guillermo Toledo Montes leads Enrique to an examination table.

Enrique’s left eye socket has a severe concussion. The eyelid is injured and might droop forever. His back is covered with bruises. He has several lesions on his right leg and an open wound hidden under his hair. Two of his top teeth are broken. So is one on the bottom.

Dr. Toledo jabs a needle under the skin near Enrique’s eye, then on his forehead. He injects a local anesthetic. He scrubs dirt out of the wounds and thinks of the immigrants he has treated who have died. This one is lucky. “You should give thanks you are alive,” he says. “Why don’t you go home?”

“No.” Enrique shakes his head. “I don’t want to go back.” Politely he asks if there is a way that he can pay for his care, as well as the antibiotics and the anti-inflammatory drugs.

The doctor shakes his head. “What do you plan to do now?”

Catch another freight train, Enrique says. “I want to get to my family. I am alone in my country. I have to go north.”

The police in San Pedro Tapanatepec do not hand him over to la migra. Instead, he sleeps that night on the concrete floor of their one-room command post. At dawn, he leaves, hoping to catch a bus back to the railroad tracks. As he walks, people stare at his injured face. Without a word, one man hands him 50 pesos. Another gives him 20. He limps on, heading for the outskirts of town.

The pain is too great, so he flags down a car. “Will you give me a ride?”

“Get in,” the driver says.

Enrique does. It is a costly mistake.

The driver is an off-duty immigration officer. He pulls into a migra checkpoint and turns Enrique over.

You can’t keep going north, the agents say.

He is ushered onto a bus, with its smell of sweat and diesel fumes. He is relieved that there are no Central American gangsters on board. Sometimes they let themselves be caught by la migra so they can beat and rob the migrants on the buses. In spite of everything, Enrique has failed again -- he will not reach the United States this time, either.

He tells himself over and over that he’ll just have to try again.

Next: Chapter Three: Defeated Seven Times, a Boy Again Faces ‘the Beast’

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Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers. As Isabel Allende writes: “This is a twenty-first-century Odyssey. If you are going to read only one nonfiction book this year, it has to be this one.” Now updated with a new Epilogue and Afterword, photos of Enrique and his family, an author interview and more, this is a classic of contemporary America.

enrique's journey a boy left behind

National Bestseller

Named one of the best books of the year by the  washington post ,  san francisco chronicle ,  miami herald , and  san antonio express-news., named the best non-fiction book of 2014 by  the latino author ., among the most chosen books as a  freshman or common read:  nearly 100 universities, more than 20 cities and scores of high schools nationwide have adopted  enrique’s journey  as a their freshman or common read. middle schools are now using a version adapted for young readers as their common read., published in august 2013: a new version of  enrique’s journey   adapted for young readers  for the 7 th  grade on up and for reluctant readers in high school and geared to new common core standards in schools. the young adult version was published in spanish in july 2015. new york city has made the ya edition part of its classroom curriculum., published in february 2014: a  revised and updated   enrique’s journey , with a new epilogue and photos., published in eight languages., recent updates.

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Enrique's journey : the true story of a boy determined to reunite with his mother

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COMMENTS

  1. Enrique's Journey

    Sept. 29, 2002 12 AM PT. The boy does not understand. His mother is not talking to him. She will not even look at him. Enrique has no hint of what she is going to do. Lourdes knows. She ...

  2. Enrique's Journey: 1. The Boy Left Behind Summary & Analysis

    Analysis. Enrique is five years old on January 29, 1989, when his mother, Lourdes, leaves Tegucigalpa in Honduras. He does not know what is going on, and Lourdes cannot bring herself to say goodbye or to tell him where she is going. At the age of twenty-four, with her husband having left her, and her two children (Enrique and his older sister ...

  3. Enrique's Journey Summary and Analysis of The Boy Left Behind

    Analysis. Enrique's Journey opens with a photo of a young Enrique looking sadly into the camera while wearing his kindergarten graduation gown and hat. His expression is somber, which sets the tone for the first few sections of the book, in which a young Enrique adjusts to life without his mother.

  4. Enrique's Journey

    July 16, 2014 4:47 PM PT. This six-part series from 2002 chronicles the journey of Enrique, who traveled alone from Honduras as a teenager in search of his mother in the United States. Sonia ...

  5. Enrique Character Analysis in Enrique's Journey

    The Boy Left Behind Quotes "[Enrique] will remember only one thing that she says to him: 'Don't forget to go to church this afternoon'." ... The Enrique's Journey quotes below are all either spoken by Enrique or refer to Enrique. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own ...

  6. Enrique's Journey Study Guide

    The best study guide to Enrique's Journey on the planet, from the creators of SparkNotes. Get the summaries, analysis, and quotes you need. ... Detailed Summary & Analysis Prologue 1. The Boy Left Behind 2. Seeking Mercy 3. Facing the Beast 4. Gifts and Faith 5. On the Border 6. A Dark River, Perhaps a New Life 7. The Girl Left Behind ...

  7. ENRIQUE'S JOURNEY

    ENRIQUE'S JOURNEY THE STORY OF A BOY'S DANGEROUS ODYSSEY TO REUNITE WITH HIS MOTHER. ... "left-behind people live in left-behind places," which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for ...

  8. Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite

    Enrique's Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. ... THE BOY LEFT BEHIND . 3: SEEKING MERCY . 45: FACING THE BEAST . 61: GIFTS AND FAITH . 101: ON THE BORDER . 137: A DARK RIVER PERHAPS A NEW LIFE . 179 ...

  9. ENRIQUE'S JOURNEY: The Boy Left Behind

    The journey is hard for the Mexicans but harder still for Enrique and the others from Central America. They must make an illegal and dangerous trek up the length of Mexico. Counselors and ...

  10. Enrique's Journey Summary

    Enrique's Journey Summary. Enrique 's Journey chronicles the life of a young Central American boy, and his quest to reunite with a mother who left him at the age of five to find work in the United States. Enrique's mother, Lourdes, struggles in Honduras to support her young children, Belky and Enrique. She knows she will not be able to send ...

  11. Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario

    The mother in this story left her two children when they were preschool age, and twelve years later the boy, Enrique, decides to journey to the United States. (the save-money-to-bring-her-children-to-America plan didn't work out after 12 years and Enrique leaves Honduras with no money, no map and only his mother's telephone number.)

  12. Enrique's Journey Character Analysis

    Enrique's Journey Character Analysis | LitCharts. Enrique's Journey Introduction + Context. Plot Summary. Detailed Summary & Analysis Prologue 1. The Boy Left Behind 2. Seeking Mercy 3. Facing the Beast 4. Gifts and Faith 5. On the Border 6. A Dark River, Perhaps a New Life 7.

  13. Enrique's Journey Chapter 1 Summary

    When Enrique is seven years old Luis falls in love with a woman, moves out, and begins a new family. Luis's girlfriend thinks Enrique is a financial burden, so Enrique, now age seven, is left in the care of Luis's mother. As a result, Enrique grows to hate his father. Belky is likewise distressed at Luis's actions and Lourdes's prolonged ...

  14. Enrique's Journey

    Random House, 2006 - Social Science - 291 pages. In this astonishing true story, award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario recounts the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States. When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Lourdes, too poor to feed her children ...

  15. "Enrique's Journey: The Boy Left Behind" by Sonia Nazario

    Sonia Nazario, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Loss Angeles Times wrote a book by the title: "Enrique's Journey: The Boy Left Behind". The book talks of a boy by the name of Enrique who was left in his own country, Honduras at the age of five with her relatives by her mother (Lourdes).Lourdes went to United state in search for better life for ...

  16. Enrique's Journey

    The day's work is done at Las Anonas, a rail-side hamlet of 36 families in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, when a field hand, Sirenio Gomez Fuentes, sees a startling sight: a battered and bleeding ...

  17. Enrique's Journey

    Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother was a national best-seller by Sonia Nazario about a 17-year-old boy from Honduras who travels to the United States in search of his mother. It was first published in 2006 by Random House.The non-fiction book has been published in eight languages, and is sold in both English and Spanish editions in the United ...

  18. enriquesjourney.com

    Enrique's Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and ...

  19. Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario Plot Summary

    Get all the key plot points of Sonia Nazario's Enrique's Journey on one page. From the creators of SparkNotes. Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario Plot Summary | LitCharts ... Detailed Summary & Analysis Prologue 1. The Boy Left Behind 2. Seeking Mercy 3. Facing the Beast 4. Gifts and Faith 5. On the Border 6. A Dark River, Perhaps a New ...

  20. Enrique's journey : Nazario, Sonia : Free Download, Borrow, and

    Map: Enrique's journey from Tegucigalpa to Nuevo Laredo -- Boy left behind -- Seeking mercy -- Facing the beast -- Gifts and faith -- On the border -- Dark river, perhaps a new life -- Girl left behind -- Afterword: Women, children, and the immigration debate Tayshas Reading Commended, 2007 Christopher Awards, 2007

  21. Enrique's Journey: 7. The Girl Left Behind Summary & Analysis

    Analysis. Enrique and Lourdes continue to argue. He blames his mother for leaving him and his sister Belky (and for leaving Belky with relatives who gave him a more stable life than what he experienced), while Lourdes believes that she did what was best for her children. Enrique tells her that his true mother is his grandmother Maria Marcos ...

  22. Enrique's journey : the true story of a boy determined to reunite with

    Enrique's journey : the true story of a boy determined to reunite with his mother ... Gifts and faith -- On the border -- Across the border -- Dark river crossing -- Perhaps a new life -- The girl left behind -- Unexpected reunions Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-12-06 01:13:58 Bookplateleaf 0008 Boxid

  23. Enrique's Journey Prologue Summary & Analysis

    Before embarking on the journey herself, she decides to retrace the steps of one boy who had already made it to northern Mexico. Looking for a child who would provide the story for the book she wants to write, Nazario finds out about Enrique from a nun at a church in Nuevo Laredo, near the Rio Grande in Mexico.