Illegal

 Stork, Francisco X. Illegal. Book 2 of the Disappeared series. 2020. 304p. ISBN 9781338310559.

Sara and Emiliano escaped Mexico in Disappeared following an attempt on their lives from the local drug cartel. The story concluded with Sara being arrested after saving one of their attackers' lives, and Emiliano escaping and finding refuge with a rancher.

Now in custody of the U.S. federal government, Sara is in a detention facility for other illegal immigrants. The warden and the head guard are both power hungry individuals who exploit their position to harass and abuse the women in their care. Sara's lawyer is attempting to free her.

The cartel badly wants to retrieve the cellphone that she took across the border and entrusted to Emiliano, as it contains information about crimes committed in Mexico and in the United States. Powerful people want to shut her up and make sure that phone never sees the light of day.

Emiliano is reunited with the father he despises in Chicago, and he must live with their new family. Bored out of his mind, Emiliano looks for work and meets one of the neighbors who hires him to paint her house. But life with his father's new wife is difficult, as she is concerned an illegal immigrant could undermine her reputation and that of her father's business.

As the bad guys' search for the cellphone continues, violence follows both Sara and Emiliano. With time running out, they must reveal the truth about those who are behind the murders and the attacks that have plagued them.

Disappeared

Stork, Francisco X. Disappeared. Book 1 of the Disappeared series. 2017. 329p. ISBN 9780545944472. Available at FIC STO on the library shelves.

Sara and her brother Emiliano live in Juàrez, Mexico, with their mother. It was always Emiliano's dream that he and his father would open a food truck together, but his father left to work in the United States, and found love up there, leaving the family behind. Whereas Sara has adapted to her father's absence, Emiliano continually resents his father for abandoning them.

Sara works for a local newspaper, conducting investigations in the criminal world that dominates the city. When her best friend is kidnapped by the cartel, Sara decides to risk her own life to find out what happened to her. As she pursues leads, her life becomes increasingly in danger, and she soon realizes she is surrounded by spies and enemies that wish her harm.

Emiliano is in love with Perla Rubi, who comes from a rich family. An enterprising young man, Emiliano has worked with some local children to create art that he then sells for export to the United States. He also collects bottles from a local night club and resells them, hoping to make enough money to buy a motorcycle, which would allow him to expand his business. Offered an opportunity to meet with a businessman, Emiliano quickly learns that he would be joining the cartel and his art would be used to smuggle drugs.

With their lives in the balance, each member of the family must make an impossible decision that could destroy everything they have worked for. Can Sara and Emiliano successfully bring justice to the cartel and keep their lives?

A vigorous drama that switches between Sara and Emiliano's point of view, this book is not for the faint of heart. Fans of criminal investigation will appreciate how easy it would be for Emiliano to join the cartel and live a life of crime, and what rewards he would get from that. They will also like Sara's dedication to truth and justice, even putting her life on the line to rescue her best friend from sexual slavery. 

The story continues in Illegal.

Esperanza Rising

Muñoz Ryan, Pam. Esperanza Rising. 2000. 262p. ISBN 0-439-12041-1. Available both as an audiobook from Overdrive and on the library shelves at FIC RYA.

Esperanza and her family live on a rolling ranch in Mexico. It is the late 1920s, early 1930s, and the economy is collapsing. Her father, a wealthy rancher, employs many servants and field hands, but when he dies after being ambushed by brigands, Esperanza's life of pretty dresses and parties ends abruptly as she and her mother are forced to flee the wreckage of their home, abandoning her grandmother behind in a convent.

Pursued by her father's brothers, powerful men who have wanted the estate for themselves for years, Esperanza and her mother make their way north to the United States with the help of Miguel and his family, former field hands going to California to find work in the fields there. The comfort of life that Esperanza experienced before suddenly become only memories, as she must earn her living just like the other immigrants, doing hard work harvesting different foods.

When her mother falls sick, it is now up to Esperanza to earn enough money to pay her medical bills and at the same time save enough to bring her abuela to the United States. Esperanza must adapt to a new reality where the divisions that existed between her and her servants are now gone, and everyone needs to help everyone in order to survive. Based on a true story, fans of realistic and historical fiction will appreciate Esperanza Rising. 

Secrets of the Casa Rosada

Temblador, Alex. Secrets of the Casa Rosada. 2018. 238p. ISBN  978-1-55885-870-1. Available at FIC TEM on the library shelves.

Martha and her mother only have each other. Martha refers to her mother's smiles as the Big Fake, when her mother is trying to convince others to do something for her. Martha is not abused or mistreated, she's simply ... ignored. They move constantly, never staying in one spot for very long, so Martha has never had the need to make friends. When Martha's mother tells her they're heading to Laredo, Texas to visit Martha's grandmother, Martha is puzzled. She's never met any of her extended family. Her mother, however, tells her very little about what to expect.

Once there, Martha is abandoned at her grandmother's pink house. Her Abuela doesn't speak English, and it is clear she and Martha's mother never got along. Known and respected in the community as a healer, or a curandera, Abuela is a powerful woman who is not to be trifled with. Enrolled in the local high school, Martha quickly realizes that she will need to learn Spanish to survive. Martha  is confronted by Marcella, a senior who wanted very much to learn the healing arts with Abuela but was rejected. Now, on top of being in what feels like a foreign land, Martha must be careful with such an enemy.

As time passes, Martha discovers that the pink house is full of secrets, secrets that concern her and her mother. When she begins digging, however, she uncovers information that could change her life forever, but which could alienate Abuela, the last direct link to her mother. Is discovering who she really is worth the risk to Martha?

Taking place in Laredo in the 1990s, Martha's story is one of family secrets that can redefine relationships and even one's understanding of oneself. Martha's emotions are raw but realistic, and her feelings of abandonment are in conflict with her happiness at a newfound family. Readers looking for family drama will enjoy this book.

The Aztec Empire

Roxburgh, Ellis. The Aztec Empire. Part of the Great Empires series. 2016. 48p. ISBN 978-1-50260638-9. Available at 972.01 ROX on the library shelves.

One of the fiercest empire in human history, the Aztec Empire was swiftly defeated by a small group of Spanish Conquistadors with guns and horses. Its defeat, however, belied the underlying strength that allowed a small tribe of people in Mexico to grow into the largest and most powerful military force in Central America prior to the arrival of the Spanish. Remembered today both for their fall and for their use of human sacrifices, the Aztecs possessed a rich and diversified culture, as their Empire was in fact made of countless cities either allied with or paying tribute to the ruler of Tenochtitlán, each with their own mores and styles.

Effective warfare and alliance building allowed the Aztecs to expand the boundaries of their influence to eventually cover much of Central Mexico. Religious and civilian life were highly regimented. Corn was a staple, and wealthy folks could also partake of chocolate. Sacrifices were performed to appease the gods, who guided the Emperor and the priests through interpreted signs. At the height of its power, Tenochititlán was conquered by a handful of Spanish soldiers through a mixture of treachery, advanced weaponry, and religious beliefs that these men from across the Eastern Sea were sent by their gods.

Despite the Spanish colonists’ best efforts, however, descendents of the Aztecs preserved many of their traditions and their language. Even today, more than 15 million Mexicans still speak Nahuatl, the language of their Aztecs’ ancestors.