Efrén must learn to make do in this story about immigration, friendships, and more. Being born in the US, Efrén has US citizenship and thus can continue living in the country. But for his Amá, it isn't that simple. With no visa, Efrén's mom is in constant danger of being deported, but when this happens, Efrén's life falls apart. Now his Apá must work two shifts, one late into the night, to raise money for Ama's return, and it is up to Efrén to manage his extremely excitable siblings, Max and Mía. This includes taking them to school, bringing them home from school, making them breakfast, playing hide-and-seek, etc. Efrén's life becomes even more complicated as he hides his secret from his best friend and the only White person at school, David, and a girl at school, Jennifer Huertas, is deported too. Efrén knows he has to do something, but his attempt to raise awareness rips apart his friendship with David. Efrén, the only person with citizenship, aside from Max and Mía, is faced with making a solo trip to the Tijuanan restaurant where Amá now works. I really enjoyed this powerful tale of coping with life's challenges. Additionally, the dialogue is well-structured and natural-sounding. There were some funny moments in this book, but I feel like there could have been more humor. The writing style was okay, but not too good. Overall, this is a good realistic fiction book about Mexican families.
Efren Divided
By Ernesto Cisneros
Book Reviews (2)
I honestly only picked this book because I thought the cover was interesting. However, this book was so much more than I thought it would be. (I also learned a lot of Spanish from this book, haha). Efren is a normal seventh grader, straight As and a perfect attendance record. He has everything anyone could wish for— caring parents, annoying yet cute siblings, and a best friend, David (sometimes referred to as “El Periquito Blanco” due to the colorful clothes he wears). Well, he might be poor, but his Ama (mom) makes it feel like the house is bigger than it seems with her joyful attitude, her strong hands, and her care for the family. Until one day. Efren was helping David with his campaign posters (David had decided to run for president). He arrived home late but when he entered his house, something was wrong. The twins (Max and Mia, his siblings) were missing. At first he assumed that Ama had brought them back to the playground to play, so he didn’t ponder it for too long. After reading for over an hour, though, he started to get worried. Thats when he realized Ama was missing, after discovering a note that said his neighbor had the twins. His Ama had been DEPORTED, meaning she was now across the border in Mexico taken by the ICE because she wasn’t a “true citizen” in the United States. Life got harder for Efren after that. Taking care of the twins HIMSELF, with his father working overtime to earn money, having to make food and earn money, and still help his friend manage his campaign. Lots of things happen in between here and I won’t spoil it for you… however this is an amazing and heartwarming book and my heart really ached when Efren couldn’t tell the truth about Ama getting deported to Max and Mia, when David told Efren he didn’t want to be friends with him anymore, sympathized when so many loved ones in Efren’s life was deported… I think you’ll have a fun time reading this book. :)