The Far Away Brothers by Lauren Markham

The Far Away Brothers 
By Lauren Markham

• Print Length: 322 pages
• Publisher: Crown (September 12, 2017)
• Publication Date: September 12, 2017
• Sold by: Random House LLC
• 
  

“The deeply reported story of identical twin brothers who escape El Salvador's violence to build new lives in California—fighting to survive, to stay, and to belong."

Growing up in rural El Salvador in the wake of the civil war, Ernesto Flores had always had a fascination with the United States, the distant land of skyscrapers and Nikes, while his identical twin, Raul, never felt that northbound tug. But when Ernesto ends up on the wrong side of the region's brutal gangs he is forced to flee the country, and Raul, because he looks just like his brother, follows close behind—away from one danger and toward the great American unknown.

In this urgent chronicle of contemporary immigration, journalist Lauren Markham follows the seventeen-year-old Flores twins as they make their harrowing journey across the Rio Grande and the Texas desert, into the hands of immigration authorities, and from there to their estranged older brother's custody in Oakland, CA. Soon these unaccompanied minors are navigating a new school in a new language, working to pay down their mounting coyote debt, and facing their day in immigration court, while also encountering the triumphs and pitfalls of life as American teenagers—girls, grades, Facebook—with only each other for support. With intimate access and breathtaking range, Markham offers a coming of age tale that is also a nuanced portrait of Central America's child exodus, an investigation of U.S. immigration policy, and an unforgettable testament to the migrant experience.”

I read this book with an open-heart and open-mind. Living in California, I have heard so many stories like the Flores Twins. 

Lauren Markham has done a wonderful job writing of the hard, terrorizing journey of kids who leave their countries to avoid danger, hardship and potential death and come to a country that doesn’t quite know what to do with them.

 As a daughter of an immigrant from Germany after World War Two, I know the harsh reality of a teenager trying to fit in, even though doing so legally. The Flores twins have to try and find their way to make the connection from illegal to becoming a citizen of the United States. I am not sure what is the right way for that to happen, however, I am thankful that people like Lauren Markham exist. 

This book will help all those who read it to see that these teens are just like their teens, to an extent, hopefully, more people will come to an understanding that kids are still kids and need to be looked after, taken care of and nurtured, no matter their legal standing.


I received this ebook through Penguin's First To Read ARC for my honest review.