First published 2001
Serafina flees poverty in Oaxaca and crosses illegally into California, where she meets Larry Foley, a trucker who uses speed. When their daughter Elvia is born, Serafina loves her completely until authorities tear them apart and deport her. Elvia grows up in foster care, then returns to live with her chaotic father. At fifteen, she becomes pregnant and feels desperate to find her mother. Her search takes her into the migrant farm labor circuit, where workers face brutal conditions, violence, and exploitation. As Elvia moves through this hidden world, she discovers how little protection exists for people like her family. The story follows both mother and daughter as they struggle to survive separation and find each other again. Susan Straight creates a world where characters fight to keep their dignity despite forces that strip away everything they love.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, social-issues, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, separation
Setting: California, Oaxaca
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
320 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt