Would be absolutely wonderful reading for middle schoolers and young adults as an intro or even a solidification of what immigrants and those struggling for asylum are experiencing.

This middle grade book broke my heart!

Santiago is only twelve, but his life has been harsh. He's suffered physical abuse from his grandmother and relatives, and bounces from extended relative to extended relative. When his aunt kicks him out because she can no longer support him, Santiago decides to run away. His path crosses a kindly young woman and her daughter, and together, they decide to make the dangerous crossing to El Otro Lado. There is a lot of suffering, and Santiago ends up in ICE detention, separated from his found family.

I put off reading this book for a long time, because I knew it would be heartbreaking, and because I know Santiago's experience is being lived right now by children crossing the border. There is a part in the book where Santiago asks another kid why ICE separates all the siblings, and the kid replies simply, "Because they can." And that's the sad, heartbreaking truth.

I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐇:
• a compelling, heart-wrenching and fast-paced read
• hopeful, resilient themes
• found family
• explores relevant and important topics (immigration/detention facility) and displays a glimpse of the challenges and reality of a detention facility

𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐄:
• I wished I knew this book contained child abuse prior to picking up this book because reading stories that contain child abuse is difficult for me.


𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫: everyone

𝐂𝐖: child abuse, racism

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Santiago’s future is uncertain until he meets the kind, maternal María Dolores and her young daughter, Alegría, who help Santiago decide what comes next: He will accompany them to el otro lado, the United States of America. They embark with little, just backpacks with water and a bit of food. None of the three travelers realizes that the journey through Mexico to the border is just the beginning of their story. Santiago gets detained by ICE and is in a center with other boys his age.

This book was a hard listen, but it was so, so good. It was definitely eye-opening, and I would recommend you listen.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing ARC!

This is a very solid middlegrade introduction to immigration. I especially thought it had a good balance: while it doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of Santiago's life at all, there was also room for hope and love in the form of Santiago's found family. And Santiago as a main character just really stole my heart. The author's note accompanying this is essential reading if you read the book, by the way.

Santiago will forever live in my heart. One of the best characters I've read in a while. This story followed the journey of Santiago as he leaves his abusive grandmother and heads north to the United States. His journey is one that will stay with you. Heartbreaking and heartwarming combined. A must-read!

Santiago's Road Home is an important to read about the struggles that many people in this country and outside our borders are facing. It is so sad what some people go through. Santiago's story was impactful and even enjoyable. The author did a wonderful job making Santiago jump from the page.

Santiago's is a twelve year old boy who doesn't has an easy live living with his abusive abuela who beats him whenever she likes.
Running away from home he meets Maria Dolores and her twelve year old daughter Alegria who are on their way to cross the Mexican American Border, el otro lado. During their dangerous crossing in the dry hot dessert, Maria Dolores gets dehydrated while they are caught by U.S. immgration police, and while Maria Dolores is braught to a hospital, Santiago and Alegria are brought to one of the notoriously cruel detention centers that are nothing more then jails set up by the current US government. There arrived Santiago and Alegria are separated, not knowing where the other is brought to or what will await them next. Santiago is spending a long time in the middle of other boys, who are in the same situation, having fled from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, and all being treated like criminal prisoners by the guards.During his stay, he frantically tries to find out what happened to Alegria and Maria Dolores and how he ever will get out of his scary situation without perspective. It takes a lot of bravery and perseverance to stay sane in the detention center because of the inhumane conditions. Will he ever get out again and find Maria and Alegria back and will get to livei in the USA, or will he be deported back to Mexico to his abusive family??

I loved Alexandra Diaz's previous books so I was looking forward to read this new book by her with this important and heartbreaking story. Santiago is standing symbol for what many unnaccompanied children fleeing to the US from Mexico and Central America have been facing today and for the past years, or infants, children and teens that are being separated from their parents at the detention center.It is just a horrible idea that this is happening every day as we speak, and therefore, Santiago's story is just one of the most realistic ever.
Altough the topic of the story is heartbreaking, the writing is beautiful and everything in the storyline is at the right place at the right moment. Santiago's time in the detention center is cruelly long, and the reader stretched his time in it just so long and right that as a reader you could feel the dread of it.He is waiting frantically for little light point, but it takes long for it to arrive. But in the end, there finally seems to be one which was the perfect wrap up of the book.

So all together, this is a beautiful written book about an important topic (as a matter of fact the next two books I will review will also be about this ) and just like Alexandra Diaz''s previous book The Only Road which was about a little boy and girl fleeing Guatemala for the US (I Hope to read and review the sequel The Crossroads someday) I truly recommend reading this amazing book!!

What I Loved: Santiago’s experience is a difficult one to read as he struggles to cross and then gets detained by ICE and kept in a “holding facility” in less than ideal conditions. One of the main reasons I read is to empathize with experiences that I have never had and therefore do not have first hand knowledge of. Santiago’s story was so difficult to read but a must read for anyone wanting to understand the LatinX immigration experience.

What I Didn’t Love: Honestly nothing. I think this ownvoices novel is extremely timely and important and speaks to the horrors of what it’s like to cross the Mexico border into the US.

Santiago's Road Home is an emotional story about family, dreams, and love. Santiago is such a precious character who is empathetic, caring, and clever. I don't have many words for this fantastic book. It's every part of this emotional roller coaster that left me tense until the very end. There are moments of such joy, wonder, and sadness all wrapped into one. It's not only about Santiago's journey to the border, but also about being detained by ICE.

My heart! This book needs to be read by everyone. This situation that so many are living was told in such a way that I hope is eye opening. I loved this book.

An advanced copy of this book was provided by the publisher, this is my honest review.

Santiago's Road Home is a heart-wrenching and hopeful story of a 12 year old boy and his journey to immigrate to the United States. This book is listed as a children's book, I would recommend it for middle age and above as there are some heavy themes in the book that might be upsetting for younger children.

This book will help American children gain understanding and compassion for the struggles that others may face as the immigrate to the USA. This book describes some of the modern day difficulties we see and wrestle with as we shape the future of our nation. I would recommend this book for classrooms and libraries. This would be a wonderful book to read together in a classroom as there are rich and diverse themes to engage with.

Santiago is thrown out of his cruel tia’s home in rural Mexico with nowhere to go except back to an even worse grandmother. But, Santiago unexpectedly meets a kind woman and her daughter who let him join with on their journey to el Norte. Santiago is a keen survivor and helps them find a trustworthy coyote but their group is attacked and must find the route without their coyote's help. The heat and lack of water almost kill them, he and his adopted little sister are rescued half dead and taken to an internment camp where they're separated. He learns that his sister is reunited with her mom but without papers or any way to prove he's related to them, he's confined for endless, hopeless days with guards who treat him like a criminal. He learns to read until the school funding is cut. Will Santiago get a happy ending? This book is amazing -- unflinchingly honest about the situation of illegal immigrants with a heroic main characters who you'll root for. I can't recommend this book enough -- talk about thought provoking!

This is an immigration story that is relevant and accessible to the younger end of the list and relevant for the older readers too. Some of the other books on this topic are too gritty for the younger readers. In some ways Santiago seems so much older, but he has had to become street smart and wise to survive his childhood of abandonment and abuse. This is a story our young Maine readers need to read. I know they hear snippets about the wall and immigrants from Mexico. This will help them have a deeper understanding of the immigrant experience.

Santiago’s Road Home follows Santiago who after being thrown out of his aunt’s house, decides to immigrate to America with a young mother and her daughter. On the border they get picked up by ICE.

This book follows very relevant and important events happening right now. We see and learn about how kids truly are being treated at the immigration/holding centers. I have read similar books before, and they always hit deep in the guts. This one stands out because we follow a such a young person, and the author really makes us love and care for Santiago. It is a sad journey, but still a hopeful one. Truly a powerful and important book, for everyone and everywhere, especially in today’s environment. I was sad, but also my heart leaped for this very real story. 4/5 stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and Simon And Schuster for the ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Santiago's Road Home is a heart wrenching realistic portrayal of several people who get caught at the Mexican-US border. The story helps us understand the struggles and extreme poverty the families are trying to escape. With hopes of new life and dreams of making decent money to support their family, the Mexicans try to cross the border illegally or in some cases request asylum at the border. Regardless of how they enter the families are separated by gender and babies, toddlers, young kids all get separated at the detention center. Santiago's story will move you and also make you feel hopeful for the young protagonist. It was an emotional roller coaster of a read and often times the situations described in the book made it hard to read through at a stretch without getting angry and emotional on behalf of young Santi. The book is well researched and I love how well the author handled such a sensitive topic. The situation of people in the detention centers is awful and alarming. I fear for the kids who go through the situations and I worry about the lasting impact of life inside the center. I can't imagine the pain and struggle they face day in day out because of the officials who work at these centers. I believe this book is an eye-opening realistic account of what life is like for people who get detained by the officials at the border and forced to live separately from families in the immigration centers. I was engrossed completely by the story of young Santi and I couldn't put the book down. It is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, compelling story of life inside the detention centers. I believe everyone should read it despite it being a middle-grade book. I gave the book 5 stars and highly highly recommend it. Make sure to check this book out.

SO VERY BEAUTIFUL!! It feels strange to acknowledge beauty in a book that explores such serious topics. This book however was so well done. I hope more people become aware of Santiago's story and take it to heart.

Twelve-year-old Santiago wants to escape the abuse of his abuela so he decides to head to the United States with a mother and daughter who he has recently met. In the United States, Santiago is separated from those he now considers family and is put into an immigration detention center. This book provides a powerful glimpse into the experience of a child immigrant who is torn from the people who care about him and is at the mercy of an unjust system.

Santiago is 12 (or so) and he's been shuttled from relative to relative since his mom died when he was 5. No one really wants him and some of the homes (including with his grandmother) have been abusive. So when his currently living place is no longer available, Santiago is looking for some new possibilities. He meets a young single mother and her young daughter in a market and the three of them decide they will make their way north to the US. This is a journey fraught with peril. Santiago is resourceful, persistent, and kind. When they are captured by the border patrol, the young mom, Maria Dolores is taken to the hospital with sun stroke and the two children are taken to a detention center and separated there. This picture of what it's like to be in an American detention center is as bleak a picture as I could imagine and yet I could picture that it could be so much worse too. This would be an excellent book for middle grade students to build empathy for people coming from other countries as well as to understand some of the processes at work in these stories that dominated our news.

In this book, we join Santiago on his journey across the Mexico-US border in this harrowing, heart-wrenching, impressive feat of middle-grade fiction that explores the broken US immigration system exacerbated by the inhumane stance (not to mention illegal by international law) of the current administration.

I recommend having your middle graders read this for discussions and growth in empathy, world problem solving, and general mind stretching. But parents and educators-- though the book has a hopeful ending, be ready to have tough conversations about the state of the world.