Border Crossing (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781571316912)

Manz is sure of one thing: he lives on the wrong side of the tracks in dusty Rockhill, Texas. Life is tough for everyone--his hard-drinking mother, her truck-driving boyfriend, even his privileged friend Jed--but especially for Manz, the mixed-race son of migrant apple pickers. If he could only get out of town, his life would be better.

When the summer heat sets in, Manz and Jed take a job rebuilding fence for a cattle ranch outside town. There he meets Vanessa, who works in the ranch's kitchen. The two hit it off, but Manz isn't sure he can trust her. As the dog days drag on, Manz must negotiate an unwieldy terrain involving his unpredictable mother, a best friend whose father uses him as a punching bag, and a simmering, creeping delusion that "Operation Wetback"--which brutally relocated illegal aliens deep in Mexican territory following World War II--has been put back into effect. Manz's bright and questioning mind begins to give in to its own claustrophobic temptations as he finds guidance in the voices that have been growing louder and more insistent each day.

A revealing look a one young man's struggle with identity and the effects of schizophrenia.

Author: Jessica Lee Anderson
ISBN-10: 1571316914
ISBN-13: 9781571316912
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Language: English
Published: 10/27/2009
Pages: 160
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.46lbs
Size: 7.94h x 6.50w x 0.55d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.3
Point Value: 6
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 134235 / Border Crossing


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 10/01/2009 pg. 33
School Library Journal 11/01/2009 pg. 99
Multicultural Review 12/01/2009 pg. 89
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2010 pg. 88 - Below Average, With Minor Flaw