Journey of the Sparrows

by Fran Leeper Buss, Daisy Cubias, Fran Leeper

Book Overview

Nailed into a crate in the back of a truck, fifteen-year-old Maria, her older sister, Julia, their little brother, Oscar, and a boy named Tomas endure a terrifying and torturous journey across the U.S. border and then north to Chicago. There they struggle to find work-cleaning, sewing, washing dishes-always fearful of arrest and deportation back to the cruelties of El Salvador. By turns heartbreaking and hopeful, this moving story of the secret lives...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142302090
• ISBN13: 9780142302095
• Release Date: December 2002
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.1" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A Key to Understanding

I had to read this book for a class and I am so thankful that my professor introduced me to it. While reading this book, I found that I could not put it down. It is an easy read and is appropriate for 6th grade and higher. This book gives the reader an understanding of the hardships of migrating to a new country and how scary it was to be on the lookout for Immigration. Furthermore, this book offers an incite to how non-criminal illegal immigrants are - that they are people who are just trying to survive.

first encounter with a Latino-related book

My fifth grade teacher gave this to me as a gift. I read it several times, mainly because I thought that if a teacher had given it to me,then it must be good.Needless to say, it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I didn't really sympathize too much with the characters, and I found it unbelievable that a girl could see pictures that she had created with...magic markers. Anyway, I had no other exposure to anything remotely south of the border before, so it was a new experience.The reason why I give this four stars is because it really wasn't as bad as I seem to be saying. Things happen to Maria that are easy to realte to--falling in love for the first time, trying to be an adult while still very young, and dodging sexual exploitation while working and living illegally in the States.Maybe the reason why I was disappointed was that this could have been a more vividly described story. The story of the bird seemed more like a blatantly literary device which wasn't properly integrated.Well, this is my two sense. Worth investigation, worth a read.

Stress and Self understanding

Full of romance and struggles to understand a new language and the people around her, this book has the greatest elements to draw you in as a reader to read this book again and again until it falls apart. The beginning was gripping, you kept wondering if they'd make it...the only bad thing about this book was that the "quizel" the bird in other words was a corny element and should have been left out. Other than that, this book was fantastic and should be read by all at one point of their lives when stressed and searching for self understanding.

Great immigrant story

With this book, the elements aren't really for you as a person to relate to the characters and their ancestory but the book and plot itself. Just like LETTERS FROM RIFKA, a young female immigrant migrates to America but runs into problems. Like how she has to work for money, her hidden talents and loves, her romance with one her age, taking care of her pregnant sister and so forth. I found this book to be a fabulous read, I read it twice in a row, afraid I missed something. I highly recommend this as a historical romance.

This is a great book!

This book is really good but also quite sad. I read it as a school reading list book, but if I had known how great it would be I would have read it sooner.