The Border

Gr 10 Up—This tale of border-crossing through the Arizona desert misses the mark. Filled with cultural stereotypes, the story glamorizes and misrepresents the complexity of narco-violence and lacks contextualization of the sociopolitical forces, underlying violence, corruption, and immigration along the Mexico/U.S. border. The novel opens with the mass murder of 40 people at a quinceañera. Included among the dead are the immediate and extended family of the novel's protagonists, cousins Pato and Arbo, and siblings Marcos and Gladys. As the plot unfolds, readers learn that the killers are members of La Frontera, a drug-cartel that Pato's and Arbo's fathers' have angered. Escaping the massacre, the teens see no option but to flee across the unforgiving desert to the United States. Schafer's one-dimensional characterization is particularly disturbing in his sexist treatment of Gladys. Before the massacre, Pato compares Gladys against the rest of the girls at the party, who "teeter on too-high heels" with "too much makeup." Gladys shines angelic in a "homemade" dress. Later, when they make a pit stop along a town before crossing the border, Gladys exposes her breast in exchange for a translated copy of Huckleberry Finn, which she affectionately gives to Pato. La Frontera eventually catches up to the teens, and it is Gladys who pays the ultimate price. Gratuitous descriptions of her ultimate (violent) fate emphasize her victimhood. Linguistic slights are also prevalent, with Spanish words mostly used to spew curses.