We Are Not From Here

After Pulga and Chico witness a murder and Pequeña ends up with a baby by a man she loathes, the three friends, fearful for their lives and futures, decide to leave Guatemala for the United States by crossing Mexico. This means encounters with dangerous people wishing to extort money from them, walking for many miles through difficult terrain, and riding on La Bestia, various trains that they must jump onto and ride at great peril. Told in the alternating viewpoints of Pulga and Pequeña, the author deftly achieves her purpose of demonstrating the hope and desperation of the characters as they flee their home in search of a better life.