Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4.5/5 stars.

This is a really phenomenal, easy to understand nonfiction read. The topic is super important, and I picked this one up both because this is an area I like to learn about (especially after Anzaldua's work) but also since it's incredibly relevant to my students. I need to get a copy of this for my classroom library. It's informative, easy to digest, and I even learned a LOT from it.

This book was my first experience with the series. I had been reading other books that told the stories of people coming to America from other countries and what their experience was like and was curious about this book. I thought the book would be in more of a story format, but it was more of an easy to read text book style with the way the information was presented. The book was very insightful and presented a lot of information I was not familiar with. At several points in the book, I found myself talking with my husband about what I had read. He is a history buff and had a bit to add about the way America treated and took advantage of Mexico in the past.
This book was eye opening for me and I appreciate the information provided. The walk through historical and present day events left me wondering why more of this story is not in the history books or covered on the news.
The main drawback for me with this book was the time it took me to read it. While the information was presented well and I learned a lot; due to the layout of the book- a lot of text, minimal pictures, and only a few extra stories embedded in the chapters- I found myself only reading a chapter a day.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

Dear publishers of this series, kids need images! Today’s kids are growing up in a very visual culture—and even we adults balk at the sight of a really long internet article with no images. I buy kids’ books for a public library and I WANT to buy books in this series, but I know they won’t get checked out due to lack of images (and yes, I see there are SOME, but they’re few and far between), not due to the subject matter.

Absolutely a must have for any middle grade teacher. A must add to your social studies curriculum. As an almost 40 yr old, I learned so much history that I was never taught growing up from this book. Living in Southern California, it was especially impactful as the border is only an hour away. It’s gave deep insight to border issues that we have been battling for centuries. It’s so important to teach our children better than we were taught. Especially in todays political climate, it’s going to take books like this and people willing to read and share them to make the positive change we need.

I'm torn about this one. The content is critical and necessary. However, some of the delivery left me craving more visuals, pop-outs, and questions throughout, rather than only at the end of the chapter. I would still purchase a copy of this book, but I don't see the audience being diverse in reading abilities or strengths, as the text is quite dense for a children's book. Thorough and important research, however,