Between the Lines: Letters Between Undocumented Mexican and Central American Immigrants And...

by Larry Siems, Jimmy Santiago Baca (Foreword)

In this important bilingual collection Larry Siems has assembled a diverse and inspiring array of letters that reveals the hardships, tragedies, and triumphs of undocumented immigrants in the United States and the families they left behind in Mexico and Central America. From a lively and intimate correspondence between two young Mexican women, to the love letters between separated couples, to the urgent and exasperated exhortations between grandparents, husbands, wives, daughters, sons, and cousins, Siems has vividly captured the vitality, rhythms, and nuances of these unique voices. Most importantly, Between the Lines is a living document told in the words of the immigrants themselves, giving dignity and humanity to the harsh statistics and economic threat to which the U.S. government would have them reduced. In a time of growing anti-immigrant sentiment around the world, these letters strike down the barriers between "Us" and "Other." Lively, honest, and engaging, they give us not only a better understanding of our neighbors to the south, but also afford a revealing and unsparing perspective on ourselves as well.

Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my God, this was so good. I want to teach it. But more so if I lived in NoVA or somewhere with a larger hispanic population. I think it'd be great with a non-fiction unit or a look at text structures and authors' purposes. Anyway, this was beautiful. I think it's an important read. Best parts were the love letters and the chapter entitled "Insubstitutable Comrades". So hopeful and human. Loved it!