A Journey Toward Hope by Victor Hinojosa, Coert Voorhees, Susan Guevara
Release: March 1st 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Six Foot Press
Source: Netgalley
Synopsis:
Every year, roughly 50,000 unaccompanied minors arrive at the US/Mexico border to present themselves for asylum or related visas. The majority of these children are non-Mexicans fleeing the systemic violence of Central America’s “Northern Triangle”: Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
A Journey Toward Hope tells the story of Rodrigo, a 14-year-old escaping Honduran violence; Alessandra, a 10-year-old Guatemalan whose first language is Q’eqchi’; and the Salvadoran siblings Laura and Nando. Though their reasons for making the journey are different and the journey northward is perilous, the four children band together, finding strength in one another as they share the dreams of their past and the hopes for their future. Written in collaboration with Baylor University’s’ Social Innovation Collaborative, A Journey Toward Hope is a celebration of their humanity and an ode to the power of hope and connection even in the face of uncertainty and fear.
Journey Toward Hope Review:
A BIG Thank You to Netgalley and Six Foot Press for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of “Journey Toward Hope” for my review.
This is a short yet beautifully written children’s picture book. Firstly, the illustrations by Susan Guevara are breathtaking. Each page has a beautiful watercolor feel to it with bright colors that make the story stand out. Moreover, you immediately root for all the characters because they are brave and hopeful! No matter how arduous their journey is, they keep moving on for a better future. Also, I loved how the book depicted each character as a separate animal to showcase their strengths. Furthermore, I found the footnotes at the end of the book very informative as well. It has a note from Baylor University that talks about how there are many children who migrate from Central America to the United States for various reasons, and not all of them are pleasant.
While I loved how positive and hopeful the characters sounded in the book, I wish the author had also depicted the dangers better. As this is a children’s book, I can understand the limitations to what they can put in. However, the story makes it sound like the kids have a fun time sitting on top of trains and have no problems in Mexico City like theft etc. It would have been nice if the author included this somehow. Also, I cannot imagine the street life in Mexico City being friendly towards homeless children. But this is a very minor aspect.
Having said that, I really liked the rest of the book. Overall, this is a beautifully illustrated children’s book that I feel should be in all the schools and libraries.
