Crowley County Combined Library

"Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought direction in the literature she loves--lines...

"Born to Mexican immigrants south of the Rillito River in Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth had the world at her fingertips. She was preparing to enter her freshman year of high school as the number one student when suddenly, her own country took away the most important right a child has: the right to have a family. When her parents’ visas expired and they were forced to return to Mexico, Elizabeth was left responsible for her younger brother, as well...

"What happens when the all-American high school student discovers he's undocumented? Rafa's parents didn't want him to grow up feeling different because, as his mom told him: "Dreams should not have borders." Rafa had no idea of his immigration status until he tried to get his driver's license during his junior year of high school. Suddenly, his perfectly curated and slightly racist (race-ish, if you will) American life came undone. While his parents...

"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...

A remarkable true story from social justice advocate and national bestselling author Julissa Arce about her journey to belong in America while growing up undocumented in Texas. Born in the picturesque town of Taxco, Mexico, Julissa Arce was left behind for months at a time with her two sisters, a nanny, and her grandma while her parents worked tirelessly in America in hopes of building a home and providing a better life for their children. That is,...

The Thinking Critically series introduces students to the complex issues that dominate public discourse and challenges them to become discerning readers, to think independently, and to engage and develop their skills as critical thinkers. Chapters are organized in a pro/con format, in which a single author synthesizes the predominant arguments for and against an issue into clear, accessible discussions supported by details and evidence including relevant...

A farmworker sneaks across the border from Mexico into California in an effort to make money to send to his family back home. It is a story that happens every day, told here in an uncompromising, groundbreaking work of realism from American independent filmmaker Robert M. Young. Vivid and spare where other films about illegal immigration might sentimentalize, Young's take on the subject is equal parts intimate character study and gripping road movie,...

"Knowledge is power peril... In a city as large as Chicago, the wicked never sleep. When an undocumented migrant teenager goes missing, military veteran and Special Agent Amelia Storm teams up with her partner to take down what could be the most shocking forced labor and sex trafficking ring her hometown has ever seen. The case reeks of mafia involvement, but even with an investigative reporter as an informant, there's little in the way of leads....

Nayeli, a taqueria worker in a poor coastal Mexican town, spends her time serving tacos and tries to help her aunt Irma get elected as mayor, but as drug gangsters take over the town, which is largely devoid of men, Nayeli travels north to find seven Mexican men to protect the community. "Nayeli es una chica de diecinueve años que trabaja en una taquería de tres Camarones, un poblado mexicano. Ve en sueños a su padre, que emigró al norte cuando...