Jose Pimienta

Twins Teresa and Fernando are growing apart as they choose different middle schools. Teresa elects a rigorous and competitive school in the US and Fernando decides to stay in Mexicali, making new friends who resent the US influence. Great depiction of sibling dynamics, school pressure, new friendships. I appreciated the genuine frustration and rejection of US culture over rich and beautiful Mexican culture. I appreciated how Fernando suddenly and accidentally slips into drug use and how Teresa has his back. It's also a sensitive portrayal of how young boys can get left to their own devices as they move into their teenage years and why that feels like abandonment. This book has a lot to say.… (mehr)

When they begin middle school, twins Teresa and Fernando make different choices: Teresa chooses to cross the border every day to go to school in Calexico, while Fernando stays in familiar Mexicali. The twins' parents are loving but strict, and not the best listeners: they expect the kids to help with chores and errands, but they also expect good grades, even when Teresa, especially, doesn't have time to do her increased amount of homework in English. Meanwhile, Fernando makes a new friend at school, who introduces him to new music, strong anti-American sentiments, and weed. After a conflict with both twins pushed to the breaking point, they realize they are better allies than enemies.

See also: Twins by Varian Johnson

Quotes

"You're weirded out by anything different."
"That's not true." (Teresa y Fernando, 18)

Transborder studies, transborderism (author's note)… (mehr)