Travesía: A Migrant Girl's Cross-Border Journey/El Viaje de Una Joven Migrante

by Michelle Gerster, Fiona Dunnett (Illustrations)

This young adult graphic memoir tells the story of Gricelda, a fifteen-year-old Mexican girl who attempts to cross the border into America with her mother and younger brother in search of a better life. Their treacherous journey, filled with both heartbreak and hope, begins in Tijuana, where they are transported from house to house by strangers. Here they meet the mysterious smuggler el Guero, who promises to lead the young family through the mountains and the scorching heat of the desert and beyond. Can he prove himself by keeping them safe during the crossing? Will America be the country of dreams like they imagined? Or will adjusting to their new life in California be another type of struggle for Gricelda and her family?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Canada

72 pages, Paperback

First published April 13, 2021

Reviews

[Kelly]

A lackluster entry into the canon of stories about migrants and immigrants to America. It's more like a picture book than a comic, and it lacks in details or compelling narrative structure: in one page our main character goes from crossing the border and settling in a house with a ton of other migrants in southern California to suddenly having a semi-normal life in northern California.

I'm sure this would make a fine introduction to young readers, but there are way better titles and many of them are by authors who've had the experience themselves. Gerster's husband was the catalyst for her wanting to tell this story, especially since so few migrant stories are about women and children, but.....The Distance Between Us: Young Readers Edition is a way better, more thorough, more emotionally compelling pick for the same audience.

The art doesn't do much and it, too, lacks in many details. Some of the choices felt a little weird.

[Libriar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure who the audience is for this book about one migrant girl's story of crossing the US/Mexican border. It reads like a bilingual picture book but the content is most suitable for ages 12 and above. It is too brief to really get a feel for the story but maybe it would be a good way to start a discussion. Fiction books such as "The Only Road" by Alexandra Diaz (5th grade and above), "Santiago's Road Home" by Alexandra Diaz (5th grade and above), and "We Are Not From Here" by Jenny Torres Sanchez (8th grade and above) do a much better job at conveying the horrors that children and teens face when trying to get to the United States. Too bad it wasn't done as an actual graphic novel - at least then there would have been a wider audience for the book.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Travesia: A Migrant Girl’s Cross-Border Journey” is the first-person story of Gricelda, a Mexican teen who, with her mother & younger brother, was smuggled across the desert into the USA.  This timely graphic novel is simply written & illustrated, adding to its strength. Its compassionate treatment of a dark and complicated subject — the passage into the USA of undocumented migrant teens & children — will be interesting & accessible to young adults; Spanish speakers; anyone for whom English is a second language;  as well as any people looking for the context that a personal backstory gives to the horrific images in the news. The book bridges us to Gricelda’s terrifying dilemmas during her crossing. We learn her story through the words & images of two allies - young women from North America who met while teaching in Mexico. They are using their creative skills to speak up, and will be donating the royalties to a legal aid organization. The simple English/Spanish text and empathetic images protect the Gricelda’s identity while giving us specific memorable details. With the help of her “translation team”, Michelle Getster distills the story she was told, while leaving me confident that I have heard Gricelda’s voice. For example, I gained insight into the backstory on the kidnappings when she describes one of the smuggling houses where there were “lots of children of all shapes and colors” who “called the same woman ‘Mother’. It seemed she was the owner of the house”. Fiona Dunnett illustrates Gricelda’s experience on two concurrent levels - representations of the facts of her passage intertwined with symbols pointing to her interior responses. For example, there is only one smile in the whole book — a smarmy one on the face of the scariest smuggler. Unraveling embroidered borders, evoking an album that had to be left behind, frame Dunnett’s intense starkly coloured drawings. She re-imagines memories and shows us snapshots never taken. This book educated & motivated me to see the importance of being an ally on the other side of the wall. 

[Judi Gunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiona Dunnett and Michelle Gerster helped me to “get it” in their gritty graphic novel, Travesia: A Migrant Girl’s Cross-Border Journey.

Here’s Gricelda, a fifteen year old Mexican maiden, who instead of telling about her family’s traditional “quinceanera” celebration of her transition into womanhood, is recounting memories of her horrific experience as a teenage immigrant being smuggled into a new country.

I was aghast at her intimacy and honesty. Being stinky and sweaty, tired and sore, afraid and confused. The worst part for her, she admitted, was getting her period on the last night and of being grateful to have been wearing black jeans. This personal disclosure shocked me more than any of the other dangers and vulnerabilities this innocent young woman faced.

The illustrations here are as compelling as the words. Vibrant colour, shadowy images, and a wonderful portrayal of a range of emotion from sadness to sorrow, fear to fatigue. Gricelda’s account of those horrific few days of her Mexican-American border crossing and the grinding social conditions endured on arrival gave this reader an important insight into the migrant reality.

A good book makes makes you think and makes you feel. This one did that for me.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was so much missing from this. Why did her family leave? Where are all the details? These stories are so important but this felt so shallow. I know the author has so much more to tell and I didn’t see any of it

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mexico #10
For years we have been the plight of the immigrants crossing the desert from northern Mexico to the Unites States. They deal with the strenuous desert conditions to being preyed upon by the coyotes (smugglers) or cartels. It’s not an easy journey made worse by the succession of American presidents who have sent them back to their home countries.

So I was intrigued to see this book at my library, a young adult graphic novel by the American Michelle Gerster and illustrated by the Canadian Fiona Dunnett. It’s nice to see funding support from various levels of the Canadian government.

The story is told by fifteen year old Gricelda who migrated with her mother and younger brother. They leave small town Oaxaca and the peril begins in Tijuana. Migrantes are picked up in groups by the coyotes. Then they make the trip at night through the desert. The epilogue story revealed the challenges of fitting into the new culture and dealing with cramped quarters living with family members. Nothing is easy.

A straightforward story complete with simple graphics. The added benefit for the young adult is the book is bilingual. The things one finds in the library.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Telling the true story of Gricelda's journey across the US-Mexico border, Travesia is a story filled with heart that shows how truly difficult the actual journey itself can be and how difficult it is to go to the US from Mexico. I wish that it had been a bit longer, but the portrait it offers is striking. The art adds to the story, and the inclusion of both English and Spanish text makes it an ideal read for those moving from either language to the other. Recommended.

[Janet Dunnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very readable book, with illustrations that both knit beautifully with the text, and are truly arresting. For young teens, this book does not pull its punches regarding how scary it is to sneak across the border, especially for a young girl. Griselda is open and honest about that, and the author has been very respectful as she tells the story.
Another value of this book that I found in reading the Spanish and English together was that it is a helpful language learning tool.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated graphic novel of a family’s migration from Mexico to the United States. It is uniquely told through the experiences of girls and women. With one page written in English, and the same text written in Spanish on the adjacent page, this makes for an excellent teen title for English Language Learners.

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The true story of the author's journey to cross the U.S. border with her mom, using smugglers to help them cross. A realistic component of the story line that I would imagine most readers of immigrants' stories was that the young girl got her period as they were traveling on foot. The ending was abrupt but the journey itself described so realistically.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle middle grade introduction into the story of migrants. I think to qualify as YA it could have had more detail and been a more emotional. This was a very brief, sanitized tale compared to others I've read. I love the dual language element and feel that adds a lot of value to this title.
I'd say 12/13yr olds but for teens older than that this is just not enough.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short story about a teenaged girl, her young brother, and her mother who cross the Mexico-US border with a smuggler and then live in California.

The shortness of the story means that there's not much here other than comments on how scary and dirty the border crossing process was.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is so interesting but I wanted more information and details. I had a hard time figuring out what age audience this was written for. The ending was so blunt that I looked for missing pages. That's probably on me as a reader wanting a novel but picking up a short story.

[Madison Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations were beautiful, but the story itself was lackluster and way too short. I found this in the YA graphic novel section at the library, but it would be better suited as a children’s picture book, in my opinion. I like the message and the bilingual printing, but I’m left wanting more.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about one families' journey across the border, this experience is from year's past but still has some relevance today. It is written in both English and Spanish.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting graphic novel but a bit short. I wish the author had written more.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short story that reads like a picture book. A nice introduction or reminder of the stories that should be heard, so the reader can dig deeper through other literature.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sparse in detail and depth of character, but you do feel the risk, exhaustion, and peril undertaken by immigrants crossing the border via coyote smugglers.

[Candance Doerr-Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

YA nonfiction memoir of young female border crossing with her mother and brother. I especially appreciated that the book is bilingual, written n both English and Spanish. I could read 90-95% in Spanish translations of English and then look to English passages if needed for support.

Used: 24 (library)

[Tiani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could imagine what it would be like to be in the Mexican girl's point of view. I could imagine the struggles that her family had gone through while crossing the border, and how afraid and desperate they were. I thought this book was slightly emotional, and relatable since many immigrants have also felt the same way as the girl in this book. Now, that I have read this book, I think that new immigrants must have lots going on in their minds that we cannot see on the outside. I feel bad because it is unfair how there is a border between the US and Mexico, when there shouldn't be and everyone should be treated with equal rights no matter what nationality.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the novel in Spanish so my students could see that I was translating new words.