Marisol’s journalist father is dead, an apparent victim of the drug war on the Mexican-American border. In hiding from further danger, his family camps on a dry riverbank in southern California, eking out an existence as migrant workers. Although legally an American citizen, Marisol suffers external pressure from her white peers and the internal angst of a capable adolescent facing an uncertain present and an even less certain future.
One fateful day, a brush fire separates her from her family. She is on her own, albeit with the help of a few friends—some more trustworthy than others—to find her way home. Her goal is to reach her home in Mexico in time to honor her father’s memory on Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Seemingly insurmountable obstacles present themselves during her quest, but the young girl’s tenacity will not be denied. The joy is in the journey.
The author employs the first-person, present tense mode to pull us into Marisol’s world and into her mind. And she does it well. Clever wording—for example, using English idioms nonsensical to a nonnative speaker who is forced to deal with them anyway—lends both humor and pathos to the tale. Ms. Granfors also teaches the reader a lot about Día de los Muertos and its importance to the Mexican culture.
“There are rivers in us all,” her father told her. Marisol’s real quest is to discover where her river leads. Does it truly end at Día de los Muertos, or does it flow beyond?
— Bruce JudischProduct Details:
Paperback: 280 pages
Language: English
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-13: 9781453801901
ISBN: 1453801901
My thoughts are captured accurately; however, as a caveat, this is not a Christian novel and I would not recommend it for sensitive readers. There is some profanity and sensuality. Ms. Granfors delivers a realistic view from Marisol's perspective, but it's more worldly than readers of this blog might care to read.
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