Alexandra Diaz (1)Rezensionen

Retelling: Jaime and his cousin Angela embark on a perilous journey from their home in Guatemala after a violent gang murdered Angela's brother, Miguel. Their goal is to find sanctuary with Jaime's brother, Tomas, in los Estados Unidos. The author, Alexandra Diaz, hints at the true brutality of the journey for people with no other place to go as her heros witness the misfortune of their fellow travelers and narrowly escape the same fates themselves. Jaime is not known for his brawn, but uses the strength and talents he has as an artist to gain favor and support his cousin.

Thoughts and feelings: One good turn deserves another. My favorite moment in the book was when the scrappy dog they saved from a slow death turns out to be their salvation (I won't give it away). I also liked that Jaime's paternalism towards his cousin Angela was challenged when she stepped up to save them in unexpected ways. I would love to have read a little from her perspective, or from the perspective of Joaquin (who dressed like a boy to avoid unwanted attention on the road).

This is a great book that teachers should add to their 6th-8th grade library. Students may be able to relate to the character of this novel or feel empathy towards other students like him. You can connect this book to instruction in social studies when talking about immigration. This book follows a boy named Santiago who is fleeing Mexico after being abused by his caregivers. Santiago encounters a woman and her daughter on their way to cross the U.S. Mexican border and decided to join them. They encounter many obstacles on this journey, and they even almost die in the desert due to the heat. They grow very close as a family. Then, they are found, separated, and detained at a government facility where Santiago is left with uncertainty of his future for several months. This is a heart touching story that explores some of the difficulties people face behind immigration.

Remarkable and important book that I couldn’t put down. I’m glad to see that there’s a sequel. It’s not an emotionally easy read, but it is worth it.

An excellent read for tweens/teens on the subject of contemporary immigration. Set in New Mexico, and following the continuing adventures of Jamie (12) and Angela (15), whose journey escaping Guatemala gang violence began in a previous book. Well written, from Jaime's point of view, and covers the complicated territory that the border represents, both physically (the relationships and community in border states which are being torn apart, navigating a new world in a different language) and mentally (dealing with the deaths of relatives who are far away, with bullying and language acquisition, with the fear of deportation and arrests). There's a huge amount packed into one boy's experience, but Diaz does a tremendous job addressing the subject.

Inspired by true events, this riveting story follows two young boys fleeing the violence of Guatemala. In search of refuge in the United States, they endure a treacherous journey and encounter many obstacles. Glossary. Further Reading.

When Miguel's cousin is murdered by a local gang, his family scrounges together enough money to send Miguel and another cousin, Angela, to the United States where they will join his brother Tomas. Unfortunately, due to the family's desperate situation, this journey is not done through legal routes, forcing the children to make difficult and dangerous decisions as they pass through their home of Guatemala and into Mexico towards the United States.

This book starts with a shocking death and quickly moves to the children fleeing their hometown. Other books on this topic mean well but often sound rather didactic. This title walks that fine line between teaching about current events and having a thrilling story with compelling characters. While I generally had faith that Miguel and Angela would be alright, there were certainly moments that tested my belief. In addition, I knew that other characters might not fare as easily. In short, the tension was there to keep the reader engaged, flipping pages to see what will happen next.

That being said, the book doesn't get too into the gory details about the violence and desperation, although they are certainly frequent topics. There are several oblique mentions to sexual violence without naming it. I suppose this is all in keeping with a book designed for a young audience; the author doesn't necessarily shy away from the issues but she doesn't choose to grotesquely wallow in them either.

SPOILERS: Santiago flees abusive relatives in Mexico and joins up with Maria Dolores and Alegria, a young woman and her daughter, to journey to el otro lado, the U.S. After their coyote is murdered in a drive-by they attempt the journey by foot but are overcome by the desert atmosphere. They are rescued but other than a drawing by Alegria smuggled in to him, Santiago never sees either of them during his six months in the detention center. Powerful and eye-opening, this drives home for young readers the appalling treatment and conditions refugees currently face when they seek asylum in the U.S. Readers will empathize with Santiago's plight and the tension of not knowing what comes next for him.

Digital audiobook performed by Ramon de Ocampo.
5***** and a ❤

Twelve-year-old Jaime and his fifteen-year-old cousin, Angela, are forced to flee their Guatemalan village due to the Alpha gang’s terrorizing families in their area. Their families make the heart-wrenching decision to send the youngsters to America to live with Jaime’s older brother after Angela’s brother is killed by the gang for refusing to join. The novel details their harrowing journey through Mexico, where they encounter other gangs, as well as officials who do not want the refugees in their country.

It’s a powerful story and very well told. I loved these characters! The dangers they face include robbery, beatings, incarceration, hunger, lack of shelter, and various threats from both fellow refugees and local inhabitants they encounter on this 1,500-mile long journey. Having little more than a small bag of provisions, a sewing kit, some money sewn into the seams of their clothes, a crude map with some information on safe houses along the way, and Jaime’s sketchbook, they find in themselves courage, inventiveness, tenacity and compassion. A few of their fellow refugees have made the attempt before and they learn quickly from them a few tricks to be able to pass as Mexicans. Other fellow refugees turn out to be almost as dangerous as the gangs that control various territories they pass through. Despite the many dangers they face, they cling to hope and to the telephone number they’ve memorized – so they can call Jaime’s older brother if / when they make it across the border to the USA.

Because this is for the young adult market the book is probably less horrific that the realities, though it still alludes to the many dangers such refuges face. Threats of injury, dismemberment or death when boarding a moving train, for example. The possibility of assault and rape from gangs that “patrol” the tracks. The lack of food, water or shelter as they make their way through a desert landscape.

Ramon de Ocampo does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. He sets a good pace and gives the young characters reasonably “young” voices. Diaz includes a number of Spanish words / phrases in the text (there is a glossary / dictionary at the back), and Ocampo’s pronunciation of Spanish is spot on. (Though I can’t really speak to whether he sounds Guatemalan vs Mexican.)

Jaime and his cousin are sent to try to make it from Guatemala to el norte after their cousin is murdered by a local gang who tries to recruit them as well. A harrowing journey, they try to travel the 4000 miles to make it New Mexico to Jamie's brother. Faced with dangerous encounters and the need to raise money, the two are successful where many of the other characters with whom their paths cross have not been. A look at the motivations for some to leave home and risk life and limb to get to America.

This eye opening story shows an inside look at what it is like to flee your home. These two children risked everything, just to get away from a gang that may be coming after them next.

According to the description of the book from the publisher: Inspired by true events, The Only Road is an individual story of a boy who feels that leaving his home and risking everything is his only chance for a better life. It is a story of fear and bravery, love and loss, strangers becoming family, and one boy’s treacherous and life-changing journey.

I had so many emotions run through me as I read this book. Right now as we are dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis in Canada, reading this book at this time made it seem so much more real. The dangers many refugees and illegal immigrants face trying to come to a country where they can feel safe are mind boggling.

In this story it is two children (12 and 15) travelling alone with only names, maps, information and money sewn into their clothes that take the treacherous journey from Guatemala to the U.S. When Angela's brother and Jamie's cousin Miguel is killed by the local gang because he refused to join them, the family believes the only way to keep Angela and Jamie safe is to get them away from Guatemala. Tomas, Jaimie's brother, lives in New Mexico, so that is their destination. The journey is dangerous, but they go anyway. They meet other children on the way and they become friends. They rescue a dog, near death from the dog fights and nurse her back to life. They work sewing and drawing portraits to earn even more money to get safe passage across the border. Unfortunately, out of the small group of five children travelling together, they are the only ones to make it. We so not find out exactly what happens to the others, but from what is happening in the story, we can imagine. This journey took courage, guts, a little naivite and luck to get to their final destination. Many try and do not make it, many try multiple times, many disappear or are killed. A very hard story to read.

This book should be read by all students to help them understand the plight of refugees and immigrants. It should also give them an appreciation of what they have and how they live. Thank-you to Paula Wiseman Books / Simon & Schuster for generously providing me a copy of this book to read. It is one that will be with me for a while.

Jaime and his cousin Angela make the dangerous trip from Guatemala to El Norte after Angela's brother Miguel is killed by the Alphas after refusing to join their gang. Jaime and Angela's families scrape up the money to pay for part of their journey north, but it is neither smooth nor safe. They travel through Mexico, finding safe houses, surviving a train trip locked inside a hot boxcar (and another on top of a traincar), making and losing friends, facing their fears, and sticking together.

*Spoiler alert* This is a children's book, so they do make it to the U.S. (after a relatively uneventful - compared to other parts of the journey - river crossing at night) and Jaime's brother Tomas picks them up.

The text is sprinkled with Spanish, and there is a glossary in the back with definitions of the Spanish words; anyone with even a passable amount of Spanish won't need it, and most words are clear in context anyway. There are some awkward usages; on p. 201 a character says "usted" for no apparent reason, but a few pages later Angela uses that to identify him as being from somewhere other than he said. It makes sense after the fact but is peculiar to come across initially. Over all I felt there was more telling than showing, and I didn't particularly connect with the characters, though I empathized with their dilemma and their journey.

Quotes

Some people were barefoot...some looked like their soul had left their body and all that was left was a corpse operated by memory. (84)

But at what point do you stop helping people? ...Where would he draw the line between those he'd help, and those he'd let get abused and deported? (96)

They were locked in a pitch-black train car with no way of getting out, prisoners in their escape for freedom. (138)

He wished he could trust these people. They were all on the same journey - they should help each other...But when it came down to it, they were only going to look after themselves. (147)

"Is it worth going against your morals just to stay alive? I don't know." (Xavi to Angela and Jaime, 181)

"Look out your window because this is the last time you'll see your country." (Author's note; her mother left Cuba in 1960)

High school girls calling each other whores, sluts, and bitches with shocking ease. ("I don't usually swear," acknowledges one character after verbally abusing her friend, as if the profanity were the worst aspect of her tirade.) High school boys who can't carry on a conversation with alluding to getting into a girl's pants. And apparently, lesbians are an extra turn-on, since they're not interested. (So attractive, not being wanted. If you have the mentality of a rapist.) A horrifying mother who books obligatory bikini wax appointments for her teenage daughter. A drunken sex scene regretted the next day portrayed as romantic and tragic (for the boy who didn't regret it the next day). The only redeeming storyline in the novel was about Pinkie and her mother who died when she was four. Definitely would not read again.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. I think that the author did a wonderful job of putting the dangerous travels of immigrating to the united states for a better life in perspective to a younger reader. I thought that the author made the characters so relatable, but at the same time she made them distant almost. She wrote about a 15 year old girl and a 12 year old boy who were cousins, but close like brother and sister. I feel like this can be very relatable to younger children who are close with their family as well. These characters can also be relatable because the are making the dangerous journey to immigrate to the United States and some students may themselves, or have had family members try to do the same thing. I enjoyed the plot of the story very much. I thought that it was engaging and kept the reader interested to finish the book. I also liked the writing style that the author used because she wrote in half English and half Spanish as well. I think this is a good way for Spanish speaking students to relate and non-Spanish peaking students to learn some Spanish in a fun way. I think the bigger picture of this book is that you should never give up on the journey no matter how trying it may be.

According to the description of the book from the publisher: Inspired by true events, The Only Road is an individual story of a boy who feels that leaving his home and risking everything is his only chance for a better life. It is a story of fear and bravery, love and loss, strangers becoming family, and one boy’s treacherous and life-changing journey.

I had so many emotions run through me as I read this book. Right now as we are dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis in Canada, reading this book at this time made it seem so much more real. The dangers many refugees and illegal immigrants face trying to come to a country where they can feel safe are mind boggling.

In this story it is two children (12 and 15) travelling alone with only names, maps, information and money sewn into their clothes that take the treacherous journey from Guatemala to the U.S. When Angela's brother and Jamie's cousin Miguel is killed by the local gang because he refused to join them, the family believes the only way to keep Angela and Jamie safe is to get them away from Guatemala. Tomas, Jaimie's brother, lives in New Mexico, so that is their destination. The journey is dangerous, but they go anyway. They meet other children on the way and they become friends. They rescue a dog, near death from the dog fights and nurse her back to life. They work sewing and drawing portraits to earn even more money to get safe passage across the border. Unfortunately, out of the small group of five children travelling together, they are the only ones to make it. We so not find out exactly what happens to the others, but from what is happening in the story, we can imagine. This journey took courage, guts, a little naivite and luck to get to their final destination. Many try and do not make it, many try multiple times, many disappear or are killed. A very hard story to read.

This book should be read by all students to help them understand the plight of refugees and immigrants. It should also give them an appreciation of what they have and how they live. Thank-you to Paula Wiseman Books / Simon & Schuster for generously providing me a copy of this book to read. It is one that will be with me for a while.

Though presented as a teen LGBT romance, Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz is a story of the long term friendship of three girls, nearly torn apart by rumor and the entry of a new girl into the mix. The three friends are Tara — the popular girl and health nut, Whitney Blaire — the wealthy snob, and Pinkie — the girl who keeps everyone together.

The book opens with the same shocker as Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend by Carrie Jones — Tara's popular, jock boyfriend is said to have been seen making out in his car with another boy. Whether or not the rumor is true is inconsequential to the book — it's all about the reaction to the rumor.

In Jones's book, her boyfriend really does come out of the closet and the remainder of the book is her very personal coming to terms with his outing. In Of All the Stupid Things, the arrival of Riley (the new girl) in the middle of the drama, stirs up feelings in Tara that she's never had before. In this regards, the book reads like Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters (link to review) with the negative reaction being more from Tara's friends than from her family.

The thing, though, that prevented the book from working for me was the reliance on three points of view. Each of the three main characters — the original friends — gets her own chapters. The points of view cycle through from Tara to her friends and back. These alternating chapters hinder the development of any one protagonist as a fully realized character and doesn't give enough time for Tara and Riley's relationship to grow.

After all the drama circling around the rumor and Tara realizing she has feelings for Riley, the book's conclusion focuses on a completely insignificant plot thread. Having read the book cover to cover I hoped all the threads would come together in some sort of satisfying conclusion. But it doesn't. It just sort of stops with Tara reaching one of her goals.

I forget how this book came to my attention but I was intrigued because it features a girl coming out and most GLBT YA I've read has been about boys.

Tara, Whitney Blaire (I love that everyone says her whole name) and Pinkie have been best friends since first grade. And each girl couldn't be more different. Tara is a bit of a health/fitness nut, eating healthy and training for a marathon. Her father took off and never returned a while ago and barely remembers to keep in touch via cards at birthdays, etc. Whitney Blaire is raising herself basically. Her parents are career oriented and never home. So she's the poor little rich girl. Pinkie is OCD. Her mother died when she was younger and she is the mother hen to her friends. She's a bit obsessive about things...a bit too much in my opinion...like enough to need therapy.

So of All the Stupid Things starts when WB tells Tara that her hottest-guy-in-the-school boyfriend was caught with a male cheerleader in the boys locker room. Tara freaks out - even after WB hears that it was all a mistake. Tara can't get the image of Brent with a guy out of her head. So she wants a break from him. And then Riley comes to their school. Riley from the get-go starts a ripple effect between the three friends. First of all, Whitney Blaire hates her with a passion of a thousand burning suns. She saw Brent trying to flirt with Tara and being the good friend she is, she warned Riley away from him, in a very publicly embarrassing way. But then Tara starts to befriend Riley, because she's also an athletic girl and Tara just feels good when she's with her. Pinkie's need to mother goes overboard because she can feel her friends pulling apart from each other, and since she's always felt like the odd man out, this really freaks her out.

Ok, OAtST is told from all three girls' POV. This was good and bad. It was good to see the motivations for all three characters. But the depth for story suffered because of it. I definitely would have liked to know more about Tara's accepting of her attraction to Riley. To me, Tara was the most interesting character and I definitely wanted more from her perspective. As you can imagine, Whitney Blaire is the typical self-centered character who doesn't think too much about her motivations. And OMG Pinkie got on my nerves! Despite all these little complaints, I really enjoyed the story.

I forget how this book came to my attention but I was intrigued because it features a girl coming out and most GLBT YA I've read has been about boys.

Tara, Whitney Blaire (I love that everyone says her whole name) and Pinkie have been best friends since first grade. And each girl couldn't be more different. Tara is a bit of a health/fitness nut, eating healthy and training for a marathon. Her father took off and never returned a while ago and barely remembers to keep in touch via cards at birthdays, etc. Whitney Blaire is raising herself basically. Her parents are career oriented and never home. So she's the poor little rich girl. Pinkie is OCD. Her mother died when she was younger and she is the mother hen to her friends. She's a bit obsessive about things...a bit too much in my opinion...like enough to need therapy.

So of All the Stupid Things starts when WB tells Tara that her hottest-guy-in-the-school boyfriend was caught with a male cheerleader in the boys locker room. Tara freaks out - even after WB hears that it was all a mistake. Tara can't get the image of Brent with a guy out of her head. So she wants a break from him. And then Riley comes to their school. Riley from the get-go starts a ripple effect between the three friends. First of all, Whitney Blaire hates her with a passion of a thousand burning suns. She saw Brent trying to flirt with Tara and being the good friend she is, she warned Riley away from him, in a very publicly embarrassing way. But then Tara starts to befriend Riley, because she's also an athletic girl and Tara just feels good when she's with her. Pinkie's need to mother goes overboard because she can feel her friends pulling apart from each other, and since she's always felt like the odd man out, this really freaks her out.

Ok, OAtST is told from all three girls' POV. This was good and bad. It was good to see the motivations for all three characters. But the depth for story suffered because of it. I definitely would have liked to know more about Tara's accepting of her attraction to Riley. To me, Tara was the most interesting character and I definitely wanted more from her perspective. As you can imagine, Whitney Blaire is the typical self-centered character who doesn't think too much about her motivations. And OMG Pinkie got on my nerves! Despite all these little complaints, I really enjoyed the story.

This is a good book about friendship. I really enjoyed it and I think it had a great message.

Although, the characters weren't developed as much as I would like and I did have a very strong dislike of one of the characters in the second half of the book. I also wish there would have been more about Tara and Rileys relationship.

In the end, it was a cute and fast read and I think everyone that likes YA books should give this one a read.

My Thoughts
While in NYC for BEA and BBC, I attended the Teen Author Carnival where Alexandra Diaz was promoting her debut book, Of All the Stupid Things. During the panel discussion, she presented the novel as a story about three girlfriends and what happens when one of those friends falls in love with a new girl in town. Copies of the book weren't available at the time, but I later saw her at the BEA in the autographing area and was able to snag a copy. The GLBT premise and the very awesome cover had me excited to read this. Unfortunately, the book didn't quite cut it for me.

First off, the elevator pitch she gave and the subtitle there on the cover - Three Friends, One Forbidden Love Affair - are rather misleading. While a lesbian relationship does exist in the book, I think it's a great stretch to say it is the focus. Actually, the story would have been much, much better had Diaz narrowed in on this idea. As it, there is just too much going on.

Each of the three girls - Tara, Whitney, and Pinkie - have their own issues, absent father, unconcerned parents, dead mother, and yet these issues are never really explored. They simply form a superficial backdrop for some of the mini-plots of the story. Even character actions occur with little explanation, and I found myself questioning choices the characters were making and feelings they were having. The novel was just too shallow, a constant skimming of the surface even as some rather serious events happen: betrayal, loss of virginity, coming out, all those parent problems...

I do think that Diaz has potential; after all, this book has a host of unique plot-lines which would make interesting stand-alone books. Hopefully on the next go round, she narrows her focus and sets her sights on truly exploring a single idea.½

It’s a good book, but it’s a chick book, just a warning. It’s actually real for once, and so the story can speak to you. The characters feel real. If you want them to be happy, you find yourself sympathizing with them. It shows the struggles real teens have to deal with. It’s also a fun and entertaining read that won’t disappoint you. It sounded good and it’s more of a “chick book.” AHS/NC

The book has three main characters: Pinkie, who lost her mother at a young age and is unable to restrain her own mother-hen instinct; Whitney Blaire, a beautiful and wealthy (but manipulative) girl who is always referred to by her first and last names; and Tara, who uses running to distance herself from her emotions, and the disturbing rumor that her boyfriend might be getting it on with another guy. These three lifelong friends are thrown into chaos by the arrival on the scene of the new girl, Riley. Whitney Blaire is convinced that Riley is out to steal Tara's now-ex-boyfriend, while Tara finds herself fascinated by Riley and her beautiful hair. Pinkie, caught in the middle, also finds herself caught up in a serious flirtation with a student teacher. Can their friendship survive when everyone starts taking sides?

This definitely had a "first novel" feel to it, in that it sometimes felt like Diaz had bitten off more than she could chew in the space allotted. Written in alternating chapters from each of the girls' perspectives, I often found myself wishing for more depth or perhaps fewer plotlines (each girl has several). The book addressed a whirlwind of issues: friendship, sexuality, communication, death, marriage, body image, class, etc, to the point where I wondered what was being left out. The issue of Tara's (ex)boyfriend and his possible dalliance with a male cheerleader was an intriguing catalyst for the action. I did like the fact that instead of being a coming-out book, in which the lesbian romance was the focus of the story, Tara's attraction to Riley was just one of several ongoing plots (albeit one that triggers a series of subplots). I also enjoyed the hints at character development that appeared throughout the course of the book. I'm not sure a whole lot of new ground was broken, but I found it an enjoyable and easy read.

Some of my favorite books involve alternating perspectives and a group of best friends so Off All The Stupid Things at first glance would be right up my alley. And while I did enjoy reading it, it wasn't focused enough for me to love it.

I enjoyed all the characters and their basic story lines and how different they were from each other. They were almost so different it was hard to understand why they were friends, but that does get somewhat explained in the book. I love how quickly they came to each others defense and particularly Whitney Blaire who was not afraid to whisper or shout some choice words or even pull some hair when she thought her friends were being threatened.

Initially I thought the focus was to be on Tara with Whitney Blaire & Pinkie sort of acting as secondary stories but they all sort of took turns taking the spotlight. In a book this short that left a lot of unfinished story lines that were over much to quickly. I think it would have made more sense to decrease these very fast moving plot points to make more room for more resolution. The book to me ended much to quickly and on a sort of strange note, I hope there is a sequel planned of some sort because I hope for more resolution that I got.

Overall a story of friendship that could have done with a few less story lines and more focus.

Reviewed by McKenzie Tritt for TeensReadToo.com

Rumors are flying that Tara's boyfriend, Brent, cheated on her. With another guy.

Scandalous, to say the least.

Tara, Pinkie, and Whitney Blaire have always been an odd group of friends, but they've been able to stick together. But with the addition of Riley, the sultry new girl, things aren't looking so good. Tara can't resist Riley, and she's incredibly confused by this attraction. Now, she's questioning everything she's ever known about herself.

OF ALL THE STUPID THINGS easily could have been fluff, but it developed into so much more. Told in alternating perspectives of the three best friends, this story has some major drama. The pacing was a bit too up-and-down, but the ups were so darn exciting that they made up for the lulls. The plot seemed believable. Emotions went crazy, as did the girls.

I liked the characters, for the most part. Tara, the most central character, was a bit under-emotional and tough, but that's why I connected with her. Whitney Blaire was way too over the top for me, with her crazy temper. Pinkie was so clingy. Honestly girl, stop worrying! She was incredibly annoying, but I still found myself sympathizing with her because you could tell she was the odd one out. Riley seemed like a bad person based on everyone else's reaction to her, but she really wasn't that bad. I liked her quite a bit by the end of the story.

The problems in this novel were created by the classic the-main-characters-just-won't-talk-and-get-it-over-with syndrome. You know the one. It's so obvious that all the characters have to do is talk it out, but they're stubborn and refuse to.

However, I was very happy with the ending. It was happy, but not in a sickly sweet way. Everything wasn't perfect and magically fixed. It was realistic.