A Bridge Home

by Mona Alvarado Frazier

Dreams don’t come cheap—and for Jacqui Bravo, the price might be everything.

Jacqueline Bravo has big dreams—UCLA, freedom, and maybe even her first real romance. What she doesn’t have? Tuition money. After her father’s death in Vietnam, bills have piled up, and now her Catholic high school is threatening to kick her out.

Determined not to lose everything she’s worked for, Jacqui secretly takes a job at a local restaurant. But between late-night shifts, family drama, and a crush she can’t shake, she stumbles into something darker: a missing waitress, police investigations, and a boss with secrets that cross the border.

Caught between survival and ambition, Jacqui has to decide how much she’s willing to risk for her future—and who she can trust when the truth could cost her everything.

Genres: Fiction

292 pages, Paperback

Published May 31, 2024

About the author

A BRIDGE HOME (2024) was awarded:

*2025 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People
*Southwest Books of the Year-YA
*Gold Medal Best Historical Fiction
*Silver Medal Best YA Latino Issues
by International Latino Book Awards 2025

ALA Booklist Starred Review:

"Many of the issues Jacqui is experiencing will resonate with readers—family and community relationships, social activism, systemic racism, gender roles, poverty, and the pressure of family expectations.

Jacqui’s a sympathetic, authentic, and resourceful character worth rooting for. Readers will find themselves swept up into this compulsively readable and engaging story of a teenager struggling to make a better life for herself."

THE GARDEN OF SECOND CHANCES (2023) was awarded:

*Gold Medal for Best YA Latino Focused and *Silver Medal for Most Inspirational YA Novel by the International Latino Book Awards 2024.


Writing to shed light on marginalized young women's struggles, courage, and resilience.

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Reviews

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was captivated from the start, when Sister Mary Grace, Principal of St. Bernadette, informs Jacqueline “Jacqui” Bravo, that her mother has not made tuition for the month of March and must pay within twenty-eight days or be forced to transfer to a public school. But Jacqui’s mother doesn’t earn enough in one month to cover school tuition and rent. For Jacqui, this isn't trivial. Her entire future is at stake. Leaving St. Bernie’s would put an end to her chances of earning a scholarship to UCLA. University is her ticket out of a hard life in San Solano, a barrio literally located on the wrong side of the tracks, with only one access road traversed by railroad tracks often blocked by passing trains. However, Jacqui isn’t a weak character. She’s a fighter, and she won’t give up her dreams so easily. Soon, we learn how much Jacqui is willing to sacrifice to reach her goals.

Mona Alvarado Frazier has given us a very tenacious MC in Jacqui, who often teeter-totters between pursuing her dreams and the responsibilities she bears as the oldest of four children, in a single-parent family, following the death of her father. Her family dynamics paint a realistic portrait of a struggling, low income, Mexican-American family in the seventies, but the socioeconomic and cultural inequalities explored through A Bridge Home are sadly very recognizable, since they are still with us today.

I rooted for Jacqui at every turn, as I followed her around her vividly described barrio, her adventures, misadventures, and the road to self-discovery and identity. Though we watch Jacqui fall in love, this story doesn’t dwell too long in romance but rather keeps its focus on Jacqui’s personal growth and the mountain-sized hurdles she must overcome to reach her goals.

I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to young girls with seemingly impossible dreams. Very enjoyable, at times heartbreaking, but overall, a wonderfully rewarding story.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really appreciated this novel from a local Oxnard author. Looking forward to adding this to my classroom library.

[Margo T · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first, A Bridge Home, Mona Alvarado Frazier’s follow-up to her excellent debut novel, The Garden of Second Chances, seems to take place in a world that will seem totally foreign to today’s young adult reader. In protagonist Jacqui Bravo’s 1970s barrio there’s no social media, there are no smartphones, and televisions offer no more than a handful of channels. Her parents would have attended racially segregated schools, at least for the first few years. Jacqui’s own schoolwork is written by hand and researched in one or more volumes of an encyclopedia in the school library. But if you think no one under 30 could possibly relate to Jacqui then like many characters in this book, you underestimate her.

From the moment we meet Jacqui, we can’t help but relate to her. So many of the challenges she comes up against on a daily basis will seem eerily familiar to a teenager in the 21st century. Jacqui is a smart kid dealing with peer pressure, a crush, and a chance (albeit a slim one) to attend her dream college. She’s also living in a time when people of color are expressing pride in who they are, refusing to accept the racial and economic inequity their communities have been forced to endure for too long. Meanwhile, her country seems more divided than ever (sound familiar?).

Jacqui’s neighborhood is a Latino community that has a long history of sticking together against discrimination. For the older generation, that meant trying to “assimilate” and conform to standards set by those in power. But decades of doing their best to get along while being denied resources and opportunities long enjoyed by their non-minority neighbors on the other side of the tracks has taken a deadly toll. Jacqui is gradually awakening to the depth and breadth of the obstacles her community faces, and how they are manifesting in her own life. She understands how her elders have struggled so that she can have a better life, but she also realizes that in order to truly assume that life, she may have to make waves they won’t approve of. The reader is on her side every step of the way, cheering her on when she makes smart choices and feeling deep empathy when she makes mistakes.

A Bridge Home is filled with situations and characters that will take you on a roller coaster of emotions. It pulls you in with the promise of a story set in a simpler time that reveals itself to be as fraught with conflict and injustice as our own, and with just as much potential for joy.

-Margo T. Porras is the co-host of the Book Versus Movie podcast and author of Growing Up in La Colonia.

[Deborah Zeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacqueline Bravo is stunned to learn her mother hasn’t paid her tuition for three months, and now Sister Mary Grace is threatening expulsion. With finances tight since her father’s death in Vietnam, Jacqui refuses to transfer or marry young. Determined to win a UCLA scholarship, she secretly takes a restaurant job. Juggling school, activism, and romance, she gets entangled in a mystery when the police investigate a missing waitress and suspicious activity at the restaurant.

Even though this book takes place in the early 70s, the same problems that plague Jacqui are the same ones that kids of today can relate to: first love, poverty, grief, the future, helicopter parents, fighting for what they believe in. The book starts off as a slow burn, introducing the reader to Jacqui and all the issues she is going through. Halfway through, the story picks up steam and roars to the end. This is definitely one that I will add to the school library.

[Janis Kvaternik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Bridge Home is a terrific window into a well-written character, a young Mexican-American high school girl. Jacqui Bravo, the protagonist, faces incredible challenges such as handling the death of her father which has plunged her family into extreme poverty, managing her relationships within family and community, and her overwhelming stress over making enough money for high school tuition every month. Jaqui's also attempting to fill out college applications, her perceived way out of the barrio.
Jacqui is a warm and empathetic heroine, and I enjoyed watching her growth as she met all her challenges headlong.

I think this book would be terrific for high school students especially, but truly anyone who enjoys a book about personal growth and the challenges of hard work will love meeting Jacqui!

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A high school senior under pressure of family obligations, desperate to keep up her school tuition, carries not only the emotional burden of her father's death in Vietnam but the financial burden; his death benefits for the family never arrive. Jacqui Bravo's struggle parallels the struggles of many underrepresented groups and speaks to the courage of dangerous choices versus the community power of organizing.

[Sierra Gartside · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked A Bridge Home right away because it made me laugh in the first paragraph. Alvarado Frazier writes vivid descriptions of her characters. She foreshadows the role each character plays in the life of the protagonist, Jacqui Bravo, who is a ‘junior mom.’ I identified with that. Her father died; Mom has to work so Jacqui takes care of the kids. She feels anger, sadness, and guilt over her situation. She doesn’t get to have fun with her friends. I cared about Jacqui. I felt her emotions in my chest, and my stomach, from her scary job to her first kiss. The novel’s settings are rich with the five senses. I could smell, and taste the government commodities food like powdered eggs for breakfast. This story is like a well brewed cup of coffee, it’s good to the last drop.

[SOYAMRG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frazier’s second novel is a powerful story of family and struggle.

Set in a 1972 California barrio, Jacqui’s family has been struggling since her dad died in Vietnam. Jacqui’s mom is having problems finding a job. Now Jacqui’s dream of a scholarship to UCLA is in danger. Her tuition for her Catholic high school hasn’t been paid for months. Jacqui will be dismissed from school if she can’t catch up with the payments. She fears that the tuition for her sister and brother’s elementary school is probably unpaid, too. Jacqui just lost her job cleaning business offices at night. Desperate for the money, Jacqui lies about her age and starts working in the El Lobo’s Bar and Café. She offered extra money to accompany another waitress to buy supplies in Mexico. Jacqui realizes that the bar is probably selling drugs, but she can’t quit until she has the money for the tuition. In the meanwhile, a boy she likes is acting interested, and her cousin introduces her to Chicano rights group. Jacqui’s life has gotten complicated and possibly dangerous. Frazier captures the 1972 US culture perfectly. Jacqui is a very well defined character with whom readers will identify. She narrates the story so readers are privy to her fears and emotions.

The plot moves smoothly with lots of subplots, twists, and surprises. I really enjoyed this novel. It is an excellent example of good YA historical fiction. Fans of Jennifer Donnelly, Sharon Cameron, Ruta Sepetys will love this novel.

I Highly Recommend this title for school and public libraries serving grades nine through twelve.

M.A.C.
Retired School Librarian