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Where We Come From
A stunning and timely novel about a Mexican-American family in Brownsville, Texas, that reluctantly becomes involved in smuggling immigrants into the United States.
From a distance, the towns along the U.S.-Mexican border have dangerous reputations--on one side, drug cartels; on the other, zealous border patrol agents--and Brownsville is no different. But to twelve-year-old Orly, it's simply where his godmother Nina lives--and where he is being forced to stay the summer after his mother's sudden death.
For Nina, Brownsville is where she grew up, where she lost her first and only love, and where she stayed as her relatives moved away and her neighborhood deteriorated. It's the place where she has buried all her secrets--and now she has another: she's providing refuge for a young immigrant boy named Daniel, for whom traveling to America has meant trading one set of dangers for another.
Separated from the violent human traffickers who brought him across the border and pursued by the authorities, Daniel must stay completely hidden. But Orly's arrival threatens to put them all at risk of exposure.
Tackling the crisis of U.S. immigration policy from a deeply human angle, Where We Come From explores through an intimate lens the ways that family history shapes us, how secrets can burden us, and how finding compassion and understanding for others can ultimately set us free.
From a distance, the towns along the U.S.-Mexican border have dangerous reputations--on one side, drug cartels; on the other, zealous border patrol agents--and Brownsville is no different. But to twelve-year-old Orly, it's simply where his godmother Nina lives--and where he is being forced to stay the summer after his mother's sudden death.
For Nina, Brownsville is where she grew up, where she lost her first and only love, and where she stayed as her relatives moved away and her neighborhood deteriorated. It's the place where she has buried all her secrets--and now she has another: she's providing refuge for a young immigrant boy named Daniel, for whom traveling to America has meant trading one set of dangers for another.
Separated from the violent human traffickers who brought him across the border and pursued by the authorities, Daniel must stay completely hidden. But Orly's arrival threatens to put them all at risk of exposure.
Tackling the crisis of U.S. immigration policy from a deeply human angle, Where We Come From explores through an intimate lens the ways that family history shapes us, how secrets can burden us, and how finding compassion and understanding for others can ultimately set us free.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2019
About the author
Oscar Cásares
7 books87 followersOscar Cásares is the author of Brownsville, a collection of stories that was an American Library Association Notable Book of 2004, and is now included in the curriculum at several American universities, and the novel Amigoland. He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Copernicus Society of America, and the Texas Institute of Letters. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he teaches creative writing at the University of Texas in Austin, where he lives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 225 reviews
November 14, 2019
Not a bad book, we just didn't click. I would happily read another by Casares. I remember liking his short stories better. You can find "RG" here: http://www.barcelonareview.com/42/e_o....
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February 14, 2023
Quietly good, unsentimental writing, but could’ve used more tooth. About a fractured family in a border town, and how coming into contact with those trying to cross from Mexico into the United States change their lives. A coming-of-age story of both a middle-aged, single, childless woman, and her more privileged nephew, with his light skin.
“These are men and women, boys and girls, who cross back and forth every day. What do they care about the eighteen-foot-high wall and its rust-colored steel bars rising up from the levee and extending out from the bridge? It’ll be there when they come back tomorrow and if not it, then another one, higher and uglier. Who hasn’t seen the Border Patrol agents cruising back and forth along the levee in their SUVs, waiting for some pobre desperate enough to swim across in the middle of the day or later in the glare of the portable searchlights? Those curious sights are for the tourists who come to see something different, something to photograph and later show their families and friends and tell them about how interesting it was to travel across the border into old Mexico.”
“On the hand closer to Orly the veins that cover the back of her hand bulge like the exposed roots of an ancient tree. One of the larger veins starts near her wrist and runs up to the dip between the knuckles of her forefinger and middle finger. She even has veins on her fingers, though they’re not as thick. Following them with the tip of his finger reminds Orly of those nights he fell asleep in his dark bedroom feeling the different grooves on the paneled wall. He closes his eyes and follows this vein to that vein that dips between another pair of knuckles and crosses another and another and another vein, the pattern even more random and mysterious than the gaps in the wall. His father, his brother, his Nina, his tío Beto, all his other tíos alive and dead, they all came from these hands.”
“These are men and women, boys and girls, who cross back and forth every day. What do they care about the eighteen-foot-high wall and its rust-colored steel bars rising up from the levee and extending out from the bridge? It’ll be there when they come back tomorrow and if not it, then another one, higher and uglier. Who hasn’t seen the Border Patrol agents cruising back and forth along the levee in their SUVs, waiting for some pobre desperate enough to swim across in the middle of the day or later in the glare of the portable searchlights? Those curious sights are for the tourists who come to see something different, something to photograph and later show their families and friends and tell them about how interesting it was to travel across the border into old Mexico.”
“On the hand closer to Orly the veins that cover the back of her hand bulge like the exposed roots of an ancient tree. One of the larger veins starts near her wrist and runs up to the dip between the knuckles of her forefinger and middle finger. She even has veins on her fingers, though they’re not as thick. Following them with the tip of his finger reminds Orly of those nights he fell asleep in his dark bedroom feeling the different grooves on the paneled wall. He closes his eyes and follows this vein to that vein that dips between another pair of knuckles and crosses another and another and another vein, the pattern even more random and mysterious than the gaps in the wall. His father, his brother, his Nina, his tío Beto, all his other tíos alive and dead, they all came from these hands.”
April 8, 2021
This novel takes place in the border city of Brownsville, Texas and portrays the intersection of the lives of two twelve-year-old boys, one American the other Mexican. The Mexican boy is undocumented and was on his way to live with his father in Chicago, but he’s stranded because he recently escaped from a Border Patrol bust of the human smuggling ring that had been in the process of transporting him to Chicago. The American boy was in the middle of a boring summer vacation with time on his hands, and his inquisitive curiosity has led to his discovery of the Mexican boy hiding in his Godmother’s backyard.
This story explores the dilemma of living in an environment where the Border Patrol is cruising the streets looking for the “illegals,” and most—but not all—of the city’s residents are inclined to look the other way when they see things. It’s the story of two boys who are similar in many ways, but whose world’s are diametrically different because of where they come from.
This is a interesting story which I think would be appropriate for the young adult genre. It depicts a reality about a segment of American life which is worth learning about. I learned about this book from a list of suggested books written by Mexican American authors that would be preferable to the overhyped American Dirt .
This story explores the dilemma of living in an environment where the Border Patrol is cruising the streets looking for the “illegals,” and most—but not all—of the city’s residents are inclined to look the other way when they see things. It’s the story of two boys who are similar in many ways, but whose world’s are diametrically different because of where they come from.
This is a interesting story which I think would be appropriate for the young adult genre. It depicts a reality about a segment of American life which is worth learning about. I learned about this book from a list of suggested books written by Mexican American authors that would be preferable to the overhyped American Dirt .
February 10, 2020
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
As I mentioned last week, after all the big hullabaloo over the past month the go-to article appears to be this 17 Great Books on the Border to Read Instead of ‘American Dirt’. No one else seems to have a problem that said article was written by one of the whitest white women I’ve ever seen, yet somehow I can’t stop singing . . . .
But I digress. I don’t like the “don’t you dare” approach to reading, whether it’s American Dirt or anything else, so I wish this article would have been entitled “17 Great Books on the Border to Read IN ADDITION to American Dirt.” Voracious readers aren’t stupid. We’re more than capable of reading more than one narrative and/or author regarding similar topics and I certainly felt I should put my money (or library card, as the case was here) where my mouth is and pick up a few of these books and see if they offered more than the cause of the kerfuffle.
Where We Come From is the story of 12-year old Orly and three weeks he spends with his godmother Nina during the summer in Brownsville, Texas. I thought this book was excellent up to around the halfway point. The story about how Nina agreed to do a favor for her housekeeper which then ended up turning her mother’s guest house into a safe house for coyotes to use was page-turning. And the snippets regarding various ancillary characters’ personal/family immigration stories was some of the best storytelling I’ve come across recently. Buuuuuuuuut if you want to talk about farfetched and a book that totally took a nosedive, everything after Orly met Daniel (a boy who had been with a group of migrants in the back house, then managed to find his way back through the city of Brownsville to the safety of Nina – despite never being there before and never being allowed to see even the light of day, much less the surrounding neighborhood/street signs/etc. of said house – when Border Patrol pulled over their vehicle who knows how many miles away, and yet somehow couldn’t remember his father’s phone number in order to contact him) cued a massive never-ending eye roll for me. Not to mention all of the stupid decisions Nina made with respect to the care of either of these children.
5 Stars for the first half, 1 Star for the second. I’m calling it 2.5.
As I mentioned last week, after all the big hullabaloo over the past month the go-to article appears to be this 17 Great Books on the Border to Read Instead of ‘American Dirt’. No one else seems to have a problem that said article was written by one of the whitest white women I’ve ever seen, yet somehow I can’t stop singing . . . .
But I digress. I don’t like the “don’t you dare” approach to reading, whether it’s American Dirt or anything else, so I wish this article would have been entitled “17 Great Books on the Border to Read IN ADDITION to American Dirt.” Voracious readers aren’t stupid. We’re more than capable of reading more than one narrative and/or author regarding similar topics and I certainly felt I should put my money (or library card, as the case was here) where my mouth is and pick up a few of these books and see if they offered more than the cause of the kerfuffle.
Where We Come From is the story of 12-year old Orly and three weeks he spends with his godmother Nina during the summer in Brownsville, Texas. I thought this book was excellent up to around the halfway point. The story about how Nina agreed to do a favor for her housekeeper which then ended up turning her mother’s guest house into a safe house for coyotes to use was page-turning. And the snippets regarding various ancillary characters’ personal/family immigration stories was some of the best storytelling I’ve come across recently. Buuuuuuuuut if you want to talk about farfetched and a book that totally took a nosedive, everything after Orly met Daniel (a boy who had been with a group of migrants in the back house, then managed to find his way back through the city of Brownsville to the safety of Nina – despite never being there before and never being allowed to see even the light of day, much less the surrounding neighborhood/street signs/etc. of said house – when Border Patrol pulled over their vehicle who knows how many miles away, and yet somehow couldn’t remember his father’s phone number in order to contact him) cued a massive never-ending eye roll for me. Not to mention all of the stupid decisions Nina made with respect to the care of either of these children.
5 Stars for the first half, 1 Star for the second. I’m calling it 2.5.
May 24, 2020
This novel demands a level of patience to be fully appreciated. The author lingers over minor characters and their stories even when these aren't directly significant to the main story. I would say the novel was understated to a fault, but as I persevered, the understatement magically began to feel both revelatory and heartbreaking. It's an ensemble story, told from many points of view, where even the most tangential characters get to tell their tales, and where the storytelling style itself reflects the individuality and worthiness of each human being.
May 4, 2019
3.25 stars Thank you to Penguin's First to Read and Knopf for allowing me read and review this ARC. Publishes May 21, 2019.
A topic very much in the headlines today - Immigration. Although this is a fictional story it mirrors today's true to life situation.
Nina caring for her elderly mother, gets roped into smuggling immigrants. Her God son befriends a young boy, who she is hiding and things spin out of control. Nina is trying to juggle the police, human traffickers, those she is hiding, her sick mother and her God son. Nina's mischief brings out secrets from her past.
This is my first book by Oscar Casares. I liked the book well enough to try another from this author, but would like for it to be different subject matter.
A topic very much in the headlines today - Immigration. Although this is a fictional story it mirrors today's true to life situation.
Nina caring for her elderly mother, gets roped into smuggling immigrants. Her God son befriends a young boy, who she is hiding and things spin out of control. Nina is trying to juggle the police, human traffickers, those she is hiding, her sick mother and her God son. Nina's mischief brings out secrets from her past.
This is my first book by Oscar Casares. I liked the book well enough to try another from this author, but would like for it to be different subject matter.
June 26, 2019
Oscar Casares writes of Brownville, Texas, in his novels and short stories. This is a town I know well, having lived there for several years, so I was drawn to Casares’s first book Brownsville: Stories, which I found quite good, as was his second Amigoland. This, Where We Come From, is his newest novel, and it is a beautiful examination of family. It tells of Orly, a twelve-year old, who has come to Brownsville from his affluent Houston existence to spend two summer weeks with his godmother Nina, who is his father’s aunt, in her ailing mother’s home in Brownsville in a low-income neighborhood. We get the idea that Orly’s father is just “parking” him for a couple of weeks, but we also come to realize his father is hoping for some sort of coming of age experience for his son. What Orly encounters during his stay in Brownsville is indeed life-changing for him—though perhaps not the experience his father envisioned. The novel explores the nature of family and whom we choose to include in our families, blood-related or otherwise. Casares’s book also is set amid the turmoil of migrants seeking asylum in the US and how we, as simple observers of this, cannot even hope to understand what these people are going through, what they are fleeing from, and what happens when they find themselves all alone in a strange land. Where We Come From is an important book. It is one that might open hearts and minds, and I think it should be read.
January 20, 2020
A beautifully written study of a quietly troubled family living on the U.S.-Mexico border who unwittingly get caught up in a migrant smuggling network. Oscar Cásares' prose rewards careful reading, but the novel's ending, while poignant, could have packed a little more punch.
April 18, 2019
Oscar Casares is from Brownsville Texas and that town is the location of this story. Yes, right there on the Mexican border.
Nina is a retired school teacher who takes care of her bed-ridden mother. Nina's maid asks for a favor. Can Nina provide safe haven for her daughter and grandchild who are illegally fleeing Mexico? Nina does and then gets in over her head. She can't seem to say no to others who need help.
A young Mexican boy who stayed in Nina's home leaves, but returns after the motel in which he is staying is raided. Nina hides him behind aluminum covered windows. But her godson who is staying with her for the summer discovers this boy and they become friends.
Very simply written and the sentences easily flow. Can't help but pull for these characters.
5 stars
Nina is a retired school teacher who takes care of her bed-ridden mother. Nina's maid asks for a favor. Can Nina provide safe haven for her daughter and grandchild who are illegally fleeing Mexico? Nina does and then gets in over her head. She can't seem to say no to others who need help.
A young Mexican boy who stayed in Nina's home leaves, but returns after the motel in which he is staying is raided. Nina hides him behind aluminum covered windows. But her godson who is staying with her for the summer discovers this boy and they become friends.
Very simply written and the sentences easily flow. Can't help but pull for these characters.
5 stars
June 23, 2019
Because I am a Texas native, a woman, a mother and a therapist for children and adolescents in families, this book may be right up there with my all time favorites! It is beautifully written and elicited every emotion imaginable as I read it. I hated to see it end because the author transported me to another world. Thank you to Mr. Casares! I learned later that he had a reading scheduled locally and to my sorrow, I missed it.
July 4, 2019
Well-written story of immigration from the south, which is extremely timely, and coming of age for a tween dealing first with his parents' separation and then his mother's unexpected death. The characters drew me in and I cared about what happened to them. I was a bit sorry it ended, and the ending is really good.
March 3, 2020
Tenderly written novel about the human face of immigration in a border town of Texas. Brownsville lives under constant surveillance which affects residents and non-residents alike. Everyone should read this book written well before American Dirt and with a with a deep empathy for all sides of the question who gets to immigrate?
July 19, 2021
4.5**** (rounded up)
The setting is Brownsville, Texas, a border town with a mean reputation as a haven for human traffickers and drug runners. Some of the reputation is based in fact. But it’s also a community of hard-working, middle-class people who want nothing but a safe home for their children, decent schools, good roads, a thriving business district and reliable city services. Cásares focuses on one such family.
Nina is the only daughter, and now in her early 60s finds herself living with her invalid mother, having been forced by her older brothers (who are all married with families of their own) to abandon her teaching career and her own house to “do her duty as the only girl.” When her maid asks for a favor, Nina agrees. A small pink house at the back of their property was to be a rental property, but it’s empty, and Rumalda wonders if her sister-in-law and niece could stay there for a day or two. Nina agrees and becomes ensnared in a group of human smugglers. When her 13-year-old godson comes for an extended visit, she’s in a panic lest he discover her secret.
I really enjoyed this exploration of a complex issue. There are multiple layers to the novel and much fodder for discussion, from the many instances of mother/child relationships in all their variety and nuance, to the vivid descriptions of a landscape that is very familiar to me, to the bursts of humor, to the fear of discovery, to the loneliness each of them suffers, and to the fanciful flight of parrots who cross the man-made border at will. (Yes, the river is natural, but it’s man who made it a border between nations.)
I had the pleasure of participating in an author event via Zoom courtesy of my local independent book store. That discussion made me appreciate the novel even more.
The setting is Brownsville, Texas, a border town with a mean reputation as a haven for human traffickers and drug runners. Some of the reputation is based in fact. But it’s also a community of hard-working, middle-class people who want nothing but a safe home for their children, decent schools, good roads, a thriving business district and reliable city services. Cásares focuses on one such family.
Nina is the only daughter, and now in her early 60s finds herself living with her invalid mother, having been forced by her older brothers (who are all married with families of their own) to abandon her teaching career and her own house to “do her duty as the only girl.” When her maid asks for a favor, Nina agrees. A small pink house at the back of their property was to be a rental property, but it’s empty, and Rumalda wonders if her sister-in-law and niece could stay there for a day or two. Nina agrees and becomes ensnared in a group of human smugglers. When her 13-year-old godson comes for an extended visit, she’s in a panic lest he discover her secret.
I really enjoyed this exploration of a complex issue. There are multiple layers to the novel and much fodder for discussion, from the many instances of mother/child relationships in all their variety and nuance, to the vivid descriptions of a landscape that is very familiar to me, to the bursts of humor, to the fear of discovery, to the loneliness each of them suffers, and to the fanciful flight of parrots who cross the man-made border at will. (Yes, the river is natural, but it’s man who made it a border between nations.)
I had the pleasure of participating in an author event via Zoom courtesy of my local independent book store. That discussion made me appreciate the novel even more.
April 29, 2019
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I was excited to read this fictional account of a timely topic, and there is a kernel of a great story here. However, more than half-way through the novel it still feels as though the story hasn't started. Daniel, the illegal immigrant, isn't introduced in the beginning of the book, and is later only a shadowy figure without a name. It is only in the last third of the book that Daniel interacts with the other protagonists, Orly and Nina. I enjoyed this section of the book where Casares shows the impact of illegal immigration on the main characters. By doing so, there is finally character development and growth, and the issue of illegal immigration stops feeling abstract.
Had the first two-thirds of the novel been compressed and the ending expanded, the story would have been much more impactful - there is little plot or character development until the end of the book. Instead, Casares often explores illegal immigration through minor characters who sometimes appear only for a page or two. This approach is heavy-handed - suddenly, the text shifts to italics and the immigration story of a maid or landscaper is explored in a few paragraphs. Once, this technique is used for a character not otherwise appearing in the story - one of the main characters passes a water jug blowing alongside the road and the story of its owner is shared. This technique distracts from the narrative and the main characters, and sometimes feels pretentious.
Illegal immigration appears to have been well-researched and the ending of the story shows promise, but the execution of this novel is flawed.
I was excited to read this fictional account of a timely topic, and there is a kernel of a great story here. However, more than half-way through the novel it still feels as though the story hasn't started. Daniel, the illegal immigrant, isn't introduced in the beginning of the book, and is later only a shadowy figure without a name. It is only in the last third of the book that Daniel interacts with the other protagonists, Orly and Nina. I enjoyed this section of the book where Casares shows the impact of illegal immigration on the main characters. By doing so, there is finally character development and growth, and the issue of illegal immigration stops feeling abstract.
Had the first two-thirds of the novel been compressed and the ending expanded, the story would have been much more impactful - there is little plot or character development until the end of the book. Instead, Casares often explores illegal immigration through minor characters who sometimes appear only for a page or two. This approach is heavy-handed - suddenly, the text shifts to italics and the immigration story of a maid or landscaper is explored in a few paragraphs. Once, this technique is used for a character not otherwise appearing in the story - one of the main characters passes a water jug blowing alongside the road and the story of its owner is shared. This technique distracts from the narrative and the main characters, and sometimes feels pretentious.
Illegal immigration appears to have been well-researched and the ending of the story shows promise, but the execution of this novel is flawed.
June 5, 2019
This book kept me up at night and had me thinking of the characters/individuals during the day, it’s moving and brutally honest. With the diversity of Texas culture and landscape it’s easy to overlook what is going on in our own backyards.
October 17, 2021
Written by a Mexican-American author who was born and raised in the border town of Brownsville, Texas, this novel focuses on people whose lives hinge on what happens to them at the border.
The book is set in Brownsville where 12-year-old Orly has been sent to spend three weeks with his father’s aunt Nina, who is caring for her bed-ridden mother. Behind her house is a small pink “casita” that Nina has, against her better judgement, agreed to be used as a way station for immigrants that are being smuggled across the border. When Nina sees a news report about the arrest of the coyotes that had been involved she thinks her troubles are over. But during the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid one of the immigrants, a young boy named Daniel who had been traveling alone managed to escape and find his way back to Nina’s house where he hopes she can provide a safe haven for him until he is able to contact his dad who lives in Chicago and is awaiting him.
“Never in a thousand years could she imagine doing anything like this, sending this young boy off to all the dangers awaiting him in this merciless world. . . But then there is so much she can’t imagine. Having to leave her child because there isn’t enough to feed him, promising to bring him soon and knowing that soon won’t be soon enough and then learning he is in danger if she sends for him but in more danger if she doesn’t.”
Daniel like Orly is also 12 years old and at first Nina manages to keep his presence a secret. But soon Orly finds out and some of the book’s most moving scenes have to do with the friendship that emerges between the two boys even though it cannot last.
Much of what makes this book so poignant happens because the author has succeeded in helping us feel the emotional impact of immigration: “…. what it’s like to be illegal not because you’re doing something you’re not supposed to, but only because you want to be with your family and because they want to keep you safe. What it feels like to always be hiding and feeling like you can be caught at any minute, even if after the crossing part you haven’t done anything else illegal. What it feels like to know that someone is thinking day and night about how they can get you back.”
Throughout the book we’re given brief glimpses into the lives of many of the minor characters who show up for only a short time but whose backstories are also part of the drama and heartbreak of immigration. It’s just one more reason why this book deserves to be widely read especially by those of us who need to be more aware of what’s happening at the Mexican border.
The book is set in Brownsville where 12-year-old Orly has been sent to spend three weeks with his father’s aunt Nina, who is caring for her bed-ridden mother. Behind her house is a small pink “casita” that Nina has, against her better judgement, agreed to be used as a way station for immigrants that are being smuggled across the border. When Nina sees a news report about the arrest of the coyotes that had been involved she thinks her troubles are over. But during the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid one of the immigrants, a young boy named Daniel who had been traveling alone managed to escape and find his way back to Nina’s house where he hopes she can provide a safe haven for him until he is able to contact his dad who lives in Chicago and is awaiting him.
“Never in a thousand years could she imagine doing anything like this, sending this young boy off to all the dangers awaiting him in this merciless world. . . But then there is so much she can’t imagine. Having to leave her child because there isn’t enough to feed him, promising to bring him soon and knowing that soon won’t be soon enough and then learning he is in danger if she sends for him but in more danger if she doesn’t.”
Daniel like Orly is also 12 years old and at first Nina manages to keep his presence a secret. But soon Orly finds out and some of the book’s most moving scenes have to do with the friendship that emerges between the two boys even though it cannot last.
Much of what makes this book so poignant happens because the author has succeeded in helping us feel the emotional impact of immigration: “…. what it’s like to be illegal not because you’re doing something you’re not supposed to, but only because you want to be with your family and because they want to keep you safe. What it feels like to always be hiding and feeling like you can be caught at any minute, even if after the crossing part you haven’t done anything else illegal. What it feels like to know that someone is thinking day and night about how they can get you back.”
Throughout the book we’re given brief glimpses into the lives of many of the minor characters who show up for only a short time but whose backstories are also part of the drama and heartbreak of immigration. It’s just one more reason why this book deserves to be widely read especially by those of us who need to be more aware of what’s happening at the Mexican border.
June 15, 2019
I am not entirely sure if I really loved it or am profoundly disappointed with it. There are some strong moments and aspects of the book felt so real. I also feel like a lot of people need to read this book right now to inspire some empathy. Nothing inspires empathy like fiction. However we do wait a long time for things to happen here, and the pay off isn’t that big.
October 12, 2021
I thought this was a great novel about a Texas family who ends up accidentally entangled in an immigration situation. I liked that the story was about the people, rather than the issue of immigration itself. I also enjoyed reading a book set in places I have been to currently live.
January 15, 2023
4.5 stars but I rounded up because I’m have a “I miss the valley” moment. Really great story from a fabulous author.
August 23, 2024
4 stars - This is an understated little novel that I found very appealing. Subjects include race, immigration, desperation to cross the border, family ties, responsibilities, and conscience.
The story is about a boy who has recently lost his mother, and is sent to Brownsville to spend some time with his Godmother. Nina lives a quiet life until her housekeeper asks for a favor: to allow her daughter and grandchild to hide for a day or so in a small house in her backyard, just until their guides (coyotes) take them across the border. Somehow this favor mushrooms out of control.
I appreciate this book for what feels like a realistic perspective of struggles on the Texas-Mexico border. I also like the sections told from the boy, Orly's, point of view. Also, throughout the book, when an immigrant worker is encountered, the author takes a sidebar and we enter that persons perspective briefly, this does a beautiful job of humanizing people who work, but are often invisible.
I found this book randomly browsing in the library, and it fit my need for a book by a Hispanic author for a book club Bingo.
The story is about a boy who has recently lost his mother, and is sent to Brownsville to spend some time with his Godmother. Nina lives a quiet life until her housekeeper asks for a favor: to allow her daughter and grandchild to hide for a day or so in a small house in her backyard, just until their guides (coyotes) take them across the border. Somehow this favor mushrooms out of control.
I appreciate this book for what feels like a realistic perspective of struggles on the Texas-Mexico border. I also like the sections told from the boy, Orly's, point of view. Also, throughout the book, when an immigrant worker is encountered, the author takes a sidebar and we enter that persons perspective briefly, this does a beautiful job of humanizing people who work, but are often invisible.
I found this book randomly browsing in the library, and it fit my need for a book by a Hispanic author for a book club Bingo.
January 1, 2020
85: Where We Come From by Oscar Casares. This is one woman, Nina's, story of her life in Brownsville, Texas, where she is the designated sibling to care for her aging mother. This puts her in a situation to be available to do a favor for their cleaning woman, which leads to her being used by coyotes as a holding place for migrants, as she is just across the bridge/border from Matamoros, Mexico, and her house located right on a canal.
Nina's life took a different path from where it was originally aimed, and she ends up available to care for and share her compassion with her students, her mother, her godson, and truly everyone else who comes to her by design or not. She has a hard time not caring, even if she's been forced into accommodating. Her circumstances are troubling in ways, but her soul is strong and generous.
Nina's life took a different path from where it was originally aimed, and she ends up available to care for and share her compassion with her students, her mother, her godson, and truly everyone else who comes to her by design or not. She has a hard time not caring, even if she's been forced into accommodating. Her circumstances are troubling in ways, but her soul is strong and generous.
June 9, 2022
What defines where we come from? Is it the place of our birth, or the heritage we fall heir to? Or is it our moral compass, that which leads us out from our beginning?
That is the question this book asks, and, to a certain point, answers. Each character is thrust into a world they didn’t know existed, an alien world with new rules, where life is not at all as they knew it. Each character must navigate this new world, and come to terms as to who they are, and where they wish to go.
It took a little while, but I came to love Nina and Orly, for their questioning of the status quo, and for how both step forward to take it on. Daniel is not as well developed, as he lives very much in the shadows. He’s more of a catalyst for change. It’s a roll he plays very well.
Though the outcome of all this is unclear, I’m left with hope that everything will be okay in the end.
That is the question this book asks, and, to a certain point, answers. Each character is thrust into a world they didn’t know existed, an alien world with new rules, where life is not at all as they knew it. Each character must navigate this new world, and come to terms as to who they are, and where they wish to go.
It took a little while, but I came to love Nina and Orly, for their questioning of the status quo, and for how both step forward to take it on. Daniel is not as well developed, as he lives very much in the shadows. He’s more of a catalyst for change. It’s a roll he plays very well.
Though the outcome of all this is unclear, I’m left with hope that everything will be okay in the end.
April 28, 2019
This story offers a view of what it might be like living very near the US-Mexican border, dealing with the human trafficking scene, & just with daily life there....for Americans & those who are not Americans. The story is told from different character's perspectives & the author does a great job of conveying the real feel of the Texas environment, the hot/dry/dusty physical environment & the nervous/tense situational environment of the 'border atmosphere'....maybe especially if you're trying to hide something...? This was the 1st I've read of this author, but I think I'll look for more of his work....
I received an e-ARC from Penguin's First-To-Read Giveaway program, in return for reading it & posting my own fair/honest review.
I received an e-ARC from Penguin's First-To-Read Giveaway program, in return for reading it & posting my own fair/honest review.
April 24, 2021
This novel is fitting given our current situation where immigrants by the thousands are trying to enter the United States via the southern border in search for a new, better and safe life. It's a tale about two preteen boys, one (Mexican-American) who lives in the safety of the U.S. but whose father is occupied with his life and girlfriend and the other (Mexican) who is trying to enter the U.S. to be reunited with his father who is desperately trying to reunite with his son. Both boys have "lost" their mothers, but have received comfort and love from the one boy's Godmother.
I liked the book, but felt the angst, struggle and emotions needed to be dialed up. It's a hear-wrenching story that came up short in delivering the "ooomph" that was needed to communicate its message of pain, sorrow and hope.
I liked the book, but felt the angst, struggle and emotions needed to be dialed up. It's a hear-wrenching story that came up short in delivering the "ooomph" that was needed to communicate its message of pain, sorrow and hope.
December 6, 2022
The beginning of the book kept me very interested. But then the story kind of fell a little flat. Felt like after I read 10 pages that if I didn't read those pages it didn't add anything to the story.
June 18, 2020
Recent chicano literature at its finest.
December 21, 2021
4 stars?
May 31, 2023
Really really well done. Exceptional line-by-line writing.
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