August 5, 2025 by Scholastic Press
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Simi lives in India with her Ammi, who is a nurse, and her Abbu, who is a farmer like his father before him. She loves to play hockey, and is pleased to be named team captain. Problems arise in her home in India when COMBAM, the Committee to Ban Marriage to Muslims, targets her home because her father is Hindu and her mother is Muslim. After Abbu is attacked and injured so badly that he can no longer farm, the family decide to emigrate to the United States. Because of the politics in the US, they decide that the best way to do this is to have Abbu smuggled into the US through Mexico, and for Simi and her mother to join him later. He manages to get to the US and set up a life with a brother who drives taxis in Queens, but things do not go smoothly for Simi and her mother. Their visa for joining the father is denied, in order to stop "chain migration". They follow the same path as the father, but since a wall has gone up at the Mexican border, getting to the US is harder. Simi meets Jose, whose family has come from Honduras. The children are both separated from their mothers, and end up flagging down the border control. They are then taken to a facility, have their backpacks taken away, and are given only a foil blanket for warmth. The bad treatment continues, and they also have to contend with a lice infestation. They eventually end up at Casa Phoenix, where they meet a sympathetic counselor, Sophia. This still doesn't help, and Simi fights to find her mother and to be allowed to call her father. It's only when she is in contact with journalist Rini that things change. Her mother is found in another camp by Jose, who manages to call her. Through online donations, the family gets enough money to reunite the family in New York.
Strengths: This is a sadly realistic look at the difficulties in India that lead Simi and her family to leave a country that they love and defy the odds to travel to the US, where things are even more difficult for them. The details about trying to get proper documentation and being denied despite overwhelming need will be informative to children who are not aware of these circumstances. The treatment in the detention centers is not pleasant, but there are moments when kind people step in to help, proving Mr. Rogers' wisdom of "look for the helpers". It's good to see a happy ending for Simi, even though many people facing resettlement in real life might experience this infrequently.
Weaknesses: For the longevity of the book, it might have helped to reference a particular year so that the immigration policies and conditions were accurate to the time depicted. I'm sure things will change, most likely (sadly) not for the better.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who were interested in Salazar's Land of the Cranes, Diaz's Santiago's Road Home, or Anta and Salcedo's Frontera.
Weaknesses: For the longevity of the book, it might have helped to reference a particular year so that the immigration policies and conditions were accurate to the time depicted. I'm sure things will change, most likely (sadly) not for the better.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who were interested in Salazar's Land of the Cranes, Diaz's Santiago's Road Home, or Anta and Salcedo's Frontera.
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