Jumping

by Dana Wildsmith

We hear so much talk of building walls along our borders to keep people out, but seldom do we hear the migrants' stories that accompany such dangerous journeys--like the vulnerability of giving up your child to a stranger, the tragedy of dying in the desert, or the constant fear of getting caught. Dana Wildsmith's Jumping captures the experiences of what happens when "illegals" try to cross into the United States, "jumping" the border. Cesar, the main character, is especially powerfully portrayed with his humor, intelligence, and desire to provide a better life for his family. Read this novel for a good story, for a better understanding of our neighbors, and to know what it means to be human.

208 pages, Paperback

Published December 10, 2016

Reviews

[Joan Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wildsmith reveals a story of corruption, death and poverty as well as love and compassion through the words of Cesar, first encountered as a small boy, and Trish, a visiting American teacher. The description of the lives and history of the Mexican people are interwoven in the tale with interjections by the nun Sister Maria Theresa who knows what has happened to Cesar’s father, Francisco. Part Two flashes forward 25 years to a Mexico infested with drug cartels, crime and hostility between the two nations. Cesar and his brother Carlos, both now adults with families become reunited with Trish who has come to work with the migrants. Her stories of her Kentucky coal country ancestors reverberate with the Mexican experience of exploitation. Wildsmith does a fine job of comparing how the poor have been abused, whether Appalachians or Mexicans. She humanizes what is too often viewed through a veil of ideology. The novel ends with Cesar and Carlos trying to jump the border with their families. Some of them succeed. Wildsmith’s writing is both unsparing and heartfelt and her book could not be more timely.