Grab Hands and Run

The "Hook"

"A MESSAGE"
"It's hot in our yard. I'm happy to open the door to the house, which is built out of concrete blocks and is always shady and cool. I see a piece of paper stuck under the door, just inside. I pick it up. 'Mama! Paloma! I'm home.' She wants to know even if she is taking a shower out back in the washhouse.
Paloma doesn't answer. And Romy's not around either. Maybe they're out together. I read the note while I was going to get a glass of water. The handwriting was clumsy. Bigger and shakier than Romy's.
LEAVE AND DON'T COME BACK, IF NOT, YOU DIE!" (before chapter 1)

"The bridge at Hondo is a trap Plaomita,' Josephina reminds mama anxiously. 'Stay away from there.' Josephina is up before dawn to make coffee.
We've rested for two days, and Paloma thinks we need to move on.
I have begged to stay here. We could make ourselved useful helping Father Ramon and Josephina." (Page 64)

"As Romy goes into these woods in Texas, her face is like a mask carved of olive wood, with beads of sweat around the eyes and a whiteness around the mouth.
Romy, let's pretend. You and I will be caballeros, knights of old San Jorge and San Miguel. The snakes wil be the dragons! I pick up a stick for both of us.
This is your lance- here! Put Cipito in your shirt. Now!" (Page 121)

"We have received a letter from your friend Rafeal.'Not from jacinto?' I manage to ask. Rafael has written that your father, Jacinto, is dead." (page 147)



"Recommendation"

Have you ever felt alone? Have you ever felt like you can trust someone, and they betray you? Well in this story Felipe, Romy and Paloma get let down a lot. When Jacinto'(their father)dies, they lose hope in getting to Canada. They end up crossing so many borders and finally get caught in the U.S. and are put in a detention center. To find out what happens to this couragous family, and if they make it to Canada, you must read this book!