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Crossing the wire
224 pages
A harrowing, high-stakes survival journey through unforgiving landscapes driven by desperate hope and familial duty.
What it feels like
This propulsive survival narrative plunges the reader into a tense, high-stakes journey across an unforgiving landscape. The mood is harrowing and desperate, defined by scorching heat, freezing cold, and the constant threat of starvation. Driven by an urgent, empathetic tone, the story strips away romanticism to focus on the gritty, visceral reality of enduring extreme physical hardship for the sake of family. It is a deeply human drama that centers on resilience and the bonds of friendship in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Readers who gravitate toward realistic, fast-paced tales of endurance and the modern immigrant experience will find themselves completely absorbed by this gripping gauntlet of a book.
- Mood
- tense
- desperate
- harsh
- harrowing
- Tone
- earnest
- urgent
- gritty
- empathetic
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- survival against the elements · familial duty · the immigrant experience · endurance and resilience · bonds of friendship
- The writing
- Direct and visceral, focusing on the harsh physical realities of the environment and the urgent necessity of survival.
- The arc
- Moves from desperate determination through a grueling, perilous gauntlet to a profound testament of human endurance.
- Who it's for
- Readers seeking a gripping, realistic survival story that humanizes the modern immigrant journey.
Content notes
- starvation and hunger
- extreme weather exposure
- perilous travel conditions
About the book
When falling crop prices threaten his family with starvation, fifteen-year-old Victor Flores heads north in an attempt to "cross the wire" from Mexico into the United States so he can find work and send money home. But with no coyote money to pay the smugglers who sneak illegal workers across the border, Victor must struggle to survive as he jumps trains, stows away on trucks, and hikes grueling miles through the Arizona desert.Victor's journey is fraught with danger, freezing cold, scorching heat, hunger, and dead ends. It's a gauntlet run by millions attempting to cross the border. Through Victor's often desperate struggle, Will Hobbs brings to life one of the great human dramas of our time.
Description from Open Library.
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