by Tracy White
Street Noise Books
6/20/2023, paperback
SKU: 9781951491208
Life at home is so unbearable that these kids will risk their lives and face colossal challenges to escape to the United States and find safety.
This book tells the true stories of five brave teens fleeing their home countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guinea, on their own, traveling through unknown and unfriendly places, and ultimately crossing into the US to find refuge and seek asylum. Based on extensive interviews with teen refugees, lawyers, caseworkers, and activists, Tracy White shines a light on five individual kids from among the tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors who enter the US each year. In stark black and white illustrations, she helps us understand why some young people would literally risk their lives to seek safety in the US. Each one of them has been backed into a corner where emigration to the US seems like their only hope.
Target age: 14 to 17
Reviews:
"Diligently researched and deeply moving, shining a light on the often-overlooked human side of America's asylum and immigration system." -- Danica Novgorodoff, illustrator of Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
"Spare, striking, black-and-white illustrations portray five teens fleeing dangerous situations and making hazardous journeys to the U.S... This fast-paced, relatable work is informative and enlightening, treating its subjects with respect. Powerful text and images honor young people's suffering and strength." -- Kirkus Reviews
About the Author:
Tracy White began publishing her comics for young adults online in 1996. Her autobiographical series TRACED was twice nominated for a best web comic Ignatz, and became a TV series for Oxygen. Her book How I Made it to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story was on YALSA's Great Graphic Novels for Teens list. She is currently teaching comics at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.