Enrique's Journey

I finished a book the other day called Enrique's Journey. It's about a teen-ager who is from Hondurus who wants to come to the United States to find his mother. When he was 7 years old his mother left for the US to get a job. She would send money and toys, but Enrique wanted his mom. He is almost obsessed with being with her. So, when he is 17, he starts out across Central America and Mexico to get to the US to find his mom.
We go and hang out with some teen-agers who have been caught crossing the border. Many of them are from Hondurus, El Salvador, Columbia, and even Ecuador. One kid had a broken arm. He told me that he fell from the train. I didn't think much of it. After reading this book, I realize how hard it was for these kids. Him falling from the train was a big deal, that meant that he had a very dangerous journey.
Enrique rode on the top of a train. Many migrants have fallen off and had limbs taken off. Some have been killed. Then there are bandits who rob the migrants. Women get abused and men get robbed. Gangs are all over the place and violence is common. Plus, some of the Mexican Police are just as dangerous as the bandits and the gangs. They steal from the migrants and if the migrants don't have any money, then they deport them back to their original country.
This was a great story. The author is a journalist, so the story is told as if it was a newspaper story. It had a lot of facts and stuff, but she just isn't a good storyteller. It did give me a greater understanding for what the migrant kids at the Baptist Children's Home go through when they come to the country.