The award-winning Salvadoran writer Argueta offers a brief but powerful novel in verse. … [His] spare text is given emotional potency through Misael’s observations of the members of the caravan …
Booklist
Deceptively simple black-and-white line drawings accompany this wrenching account of the humanitarian crisis taking place in Central America and at the U.S. border. … This moving work should help children understand the current national discussion.
Kirkus Reviews
[T]he understated, pared-down language and generous white space make Misael’s story accessible to younger and reluctant readers.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
This book is impossible to put down. Argueta’s poetic form in storytelling allows the reader to connect and see themselves in the bravery of the characters … [a] must-read for all allies of the Central American caravan.
El Tecolote
An urgent and eloquent account of a boy traveling in a caravan from his beloved homeland of El Salvador to the US border.
This novel in verse is a powerful first-person account of Misael Martínez, a Salvadoran boy whose family joins the caravan heading north to the United States. We learn all the different reasons why people feel the need to leave — the hope that lies behind their decision, but also the terrible sadness of leaving home. We learn about how far and hard the trip is, but also about the kindness of those along the way.
Finally, once the caravan arrives in Tijuana, Misael and those around him are relieved. They think they have arrived at the goal of the trip — to enter the United States. But then tear gas, hateful demonstrations, force and fear descend on these vulnerable people. The border is closed. The book ends with Misael dreaming of El Salvador.
This beautiful and timely story is written in simple but poetic verse by Jorge Argueta, the award-winning author of Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds. Award-winning Mexican illustrator Manuel Monroy illuminates Misael’s journey. An author’s note is included, along with a map showing the caravan’s route.
Key Text Features
author’s note
map
illustrations
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
REVIEW COPIES:
- Publishers Weekly
- School Library Journal
- Booklist
- Kirkus Reviews
- Horn Book
- With thousands of Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States and being detained at the Mexican American border, this story is incredibly timely.
- Jorge has spent time with people gathering to travel with the caravan, and with Central Americans in northern Mexico. His own relatives and other young people in his village and in the city surrounding his home have been killed by gangs. He knows whereof he speaks.
- This book will appeal to the kind of empathetic child who loved The Breadwinner. The narrator is likeable, informative and full of feeling.
- Also available as a Spanish edition (Caravana al norte: La larga caminata de Misael).
- Include an author’s note and a map showing Misael’s journey from El Salvador to the US border.
- Curriculum connections: Social studies / migration, refugees, human rights; language arts / poetry, novel in verse