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Reading In Common Program 2009: Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario

 
 

About the Book

In this astonishing true story, award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario recounts the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.

When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Lourdes, too poor to feed her children, leaves Honduras to work in the United States. The move allows her to send money back home to Enrique so he can eat better and go to school past the third grade.

Lourdes promises Enrique she will return quickly. But she struggles in America. Years pass. He begs for his mother to come back. Without her, he becomes lonely and troubled.

When she calls, Lourdes tells him to be patient. Enrique despairs of ever seeing her again. After eleven years apart, he decides he will go find her. Enrique sets off alone from Tegucigalpa, with little more than a slip of paper bearing his mother's North Carolina telephone number. Without money, he will make the dangerous and illegal trek up the length of Mexico the only way he can—clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains.

With gritty determination and a deep longing to be by his mother's side, Enrique travels through hostile, unknown worlds. Each step of the way through Mexico, he and other migrants, many of them children, are hunted like animals. Gangsters control the tops of the trains. Bandits rob and kill migrants up and down the tracks. Corrupt cops all along the route are out to fleece and deport them. To evade Mexican police and immigration authorities, they must jump onto and off the moving boxcars they call El Tren de la Muerte—The Train of Death.

Enrique pushes forward using his wit, courage, and hope—and the kindness of strangers. It is an epic journey, one thousands of immigrant children make each year to find their mothers in the United States.

Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, Enrique's Journey is the timeless story of families torn apart, the yearning to be together again, and a boy who will risk his life to find the mother he loves.

(Text from http://enriquesjourney.com)

About the Author

Sonia Nazario has spent 20 years reporting and writing about social issues, most recently as a projects reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Her stories have tackled some of this country's most intractable problems: hunger, drug addiction, immigration.

She has won numerous national journalism and book awards. In 2003, her story of a Honduran boy's struggle to find his mother in the U.S., entitled "Enrique's Journey," won more than a dozen awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, the George Polk Award for International Reporting, the Grand Prize of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Guillermo Martinez-Marquez Award for Overall Excellence. Expanded into a book, Enrique's Journey became a national bestseller and won two book awards. It is now required reading for all incoming freshmen at dozens of colleges and high schools across the U.S. and is being made into a movie by Lifetime.

In 1998, Nazario was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a series on children of drug addicted parents. And in 1994, she won a George Polk Award for Local Reporting for a series about hunger among schoolchildren in California. Nazario has been named among the most influential Latinos by Hispanic Business Magazine and a "trendsetter" by Hispanic Magazine.

Nazario, who grew up in Kansas and in Argentina, has written extensively from Latin America and about Latinos in the United States. She is now at work on her second book. She began her career at the Wall Street Journal, where she reported from four bureaus: New York, Atlanta, Miami, and Los Angeles. In 1993, she joined the Los Angeles Times. She is a graduate of Williams College and has a master's degree in Latin American studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

(Text from http://enriquesjourney.com)

What do first-year students need to do?

  • Actively read Enrique's Journey before arriving on campus
  • Take notes
  • Highlight passages you think are important
  • Ask yourself the following questions:
    • How can you relate Enrique's Journey to your own life journey?
    • What does the story of Enrique and Lourdes tell us about immigration and the assimilation into a new culture?
    • How do you react to the main character(s) of the novel?
    • What are some common themes found throughout the book?
    • What parts of Enrique's journey (people, events, realizations, etc.) struck you as vital stepping stones for him?
    • After completing the reading, how are you affected by Enrique's experience?
  • Be prepared to discuss the book with your Gustie Greeter during orientation
  • Complete a submission for the Reading in Common Essay Contest for your chance to win a $200 gift card to the Book Mark among other great prizes (optional)

Other Resources

Online Book Shopping

Goals and aims of the program

  • Encourage intellectual interaction among students in conjunction with faculty
  • Welcome students to the academic life of Gustavus
  • Facilitate a shared academic experience for all students
  • Emphasize reading as a significant component of the college experience
  • Tie together transition and integration experiences of first-year students
  • Provide opportunities for first-year students to explore issues and ideas relevant to our community and our world

How is the Reading In Common Program used?

All first-year students and Gustie Greeters read the book over the summer. These students will meet with faculty members during orientation to discuss the book. Hopefully, the book is used as a reference or resource in students' First Term Seminars (FTS). A website is maintained with discussion boards and other resources relating to the book and its subject matter. Finally, the author visits Gustavus in the Fall to speak about the book and the issues raised in the book.

History of the program

The Reading In Common Program began in the 2000–2001 Academic Year. Books in the Reading In Common Program have included:

Books are chosen based on their literary quality, reading manageability (college level reading but not too long), interdisciplinary nature, and whether author is available for a campus appearance.

Suggestions?

Have a suggestion for next year's Reading in Common book? Complete our suggestion form!

 
 
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