"Trip. My parents started using that word about a year ago--'one day, you'll take a trip to be with us. Like an adventure.' Javier's adventure is a three-thousand-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico, and across the U.S. border. He will leave behind his beloved aunt and grandparents to reunite with a mother who left four years ago and a father he barely remembers. Traveling alone except for a group of strangers...

Benito s childhood in El Salvador is disrupted when gang violence comes to his community. When gang members begin to recruit his siblings and target the family with violence, Benito s mother decides that the family will leave the country. Benito s new life in Mexico is different. He and his family hope to one day return home. Interspersed with facts about El Salvador and its people, this narrative tells a story common to many refugees fleeing the...