Return to Sender

With all the controversy in this country about borders, immigration, illegal aliens, and in particular Mexican immigrants, this book couldn't have come at a better time. Our students are sitting in classrooms with students who are learning English as a second language while simultaneously trying to learn the same content as their peers. Our neighbors are using labor from illegal aliens to keep their farms and businesses afloat. And our government is currently in a federal vs. state war regarding the rights of non-citizens. I would say the YA genre is well overdue for a book to examine both sides of this controversy.The story begins with a young boy named Tyler who has grown up on the farm that has been run by his family for generations. His older brother and sister are uninterested in the back-breaking work it takes to keep the farm going, but Tyler dreams of running the farm one day, even though he is only eleven. When his grandfather dies suddenly and his father is badly injured in a farm accident, the family resorts to the last hope to keep their farm going: Mexican labor. They hire three men to help with the farm work and live on the farm, but they are surprised to find the men arrive with three young girls. Maria, Luby, and Ofie are with their father, but no one knows where their mother is. She left to return to Mexico almost a year ago to see her dying mother, but after calling Maria's father to let them know she was returning, she disappeared and they haven't heard from her since.Tyler is having a difficult time with the new residents of the farm. He believes in his country and the constitution and hiring illegal immigrants is breaking the law. Therefore, he is very upset by the turn of events on the farm, and he is torn because he knows this is the only way to save the farm. When the girls are enrolled in his school and Maria is in his class, he gets to know them as more than just illegal immigrants, and gets to know the crueler side of his peers. While Ofie and Luby are US citizens and born in the states, Maria was born in Mexico, and the kids at school don't let her forget it. Slowly, though, the two families grow to care for one another deeply. The girls think of Tyler's grandmother as their own grandmother, Tyler's family invites Maria's family over for dinners and holidays, and all are devastated when Maria's uncle Felipe is picked up by immigration. Now the family must find a way to avoid immigration, run the farm with less men, and find out the truth of where Maria's mother is.This is a bitter sweet story that shows both sides of a controversial situation. Chapters alternate between Tyler's story told in prose and Maria's story in the form of letters to her mother, the President of the US, and Guadalupe. It makes the reader understand that immigration is more than just a numbers and borders game- real people are the focus and their lives are in the balance. Not to mention, these people are hard workers who just want to support their families, and they have become a strong support system for businesses that couldn't continue without their help.I found the message to be well thought out, but the writing was just plain awkward. I would have been fine if only Maria's story was choppier, but Tyler's was too. And the beginning where Tyler is concerned with the legality and moral aspects of the new farm workers, it is simply overdone. It sounded like a robot: "Illegal immigrants are illegal, the constitution is the bestest thing in the world, we follow the constitution in the bestest country in the world, therefore we don't break the law, and illegal immigrants are breaking the law, so they are all bad. Very bad." It was simply silly. It made it hard for me to take the book seriously for a while. Tyler's opinions clearly changed as the story continued, but it was almost as if Maria's family were real aliens from outer space and no one knew about them until now. This part I find hard to believe. It is set in 2005, and I find it hard to believe a family in VT would have no contact with a Mexican family until then. This part of the book was much less realistic and much more contrived.The book is still an interesting one, and might be best as a school assignment with teacher guidance, or one read with a parent. I don't see many kids picking this story up and sticking with it long enough to get to the important messages. The writing is hard to peg because it is so awkward, but not necessarily written at a lower reading level. The topic is a great one for kids and adults at all ages. It is also an interesting choice for a student learning Spanish, because Spanish words, phrases, and sentences are scattered throughout. Basically, I would read the story first before giving it to a student, and if you are going to use it in your classroom or read with your child, be aware of the flaws in order to reap the benefits of such a story.

I read this story as part of a graduate class, and I absolutely loved it. The two different perspectives of the kids in this book give two sides to a complicated issue that even adults can't solve. Now that I am a reading teacher, I make sure to tell students about this book, because it shows life from different perspectives, and lets students know that there are two sides to every issue. Such a beautiful story of empathy and understanding.

"Return to Sender" may focus on the plight of migrant workers, but it is also more than that. Tyler Paquette is grieving the loss of his beloved grandfather, and to top it off, his father is recovering from a horrific accident, one which has left him incapable of running the family farm on his own. Tyler fears losing his family farm and the way of life that is so important to him. Then he discovers that his parents have hired new migrant workers from Mexico (by way of North Carolina), and he wonders why his parents are being so secretive, telling him not to tell his friends and classmates about the new workers. Later, Tyler finds out that these workers are undocumented, and feels conflicted - why would his parents risk so much to hire these people? What if they get into trouble for harboring illegal immigrants? Yet Tyler realizes this may be the only option available to his parents in order to keep the farm going, and the migrant workers appear to be decent, hardworking folk.Tyler also finds that the eldest daughter of the migrant family, i.e. Mari, is about his age and shares a common interest in astronomy. Over time, Tyler comes to care about Mari, her two younger sisters and the others, and does not wish to see them deported. However, others in the community are not so benevolent and are bent on seeing these migrants sent back to Mexico. Mari, meanwhile, struggles with her own conflicts - her mother has been missing for a while, and as the days pass by, the family's hopes of seeing Mama grow dim.There is no real happy ending in this story, so it does credibly address some of the real issues having to do with the uncertain life of migrant workers, who literally live from day to day in the hopes that la migra will not arrest them and send them back to a life of poverty, with no means of supporting their families. There is an obvious political message here, but I felt it was well-integrated into the story without a happily ever after ending that would have diluted the story's message. The reality in today's United States is that there are many immigrant students in school without legal status, and it is time that other students, both citizens and legal aliens learn to understand how their peers might feel, living in constant fear. It is not a pleasant subject, but I felt the author did a credible job in weaving a compelling human interest story of friendship, immigrants, and life.

this was given as a gift so unable to comment

The book is truly inspiring and transports you back to times where things were simple and life was more joyful to see