Today’s Feature Book of Color, Border Crossing comes from critically acclaimed author, Jessica Lee Anderson. Border Crossing is a tantalizing young adult book centered on troubled Texas teen Manz. Manz leads a tough life as a half white, half Mexican teenager trying to escape his problems. His mother, who had him at sixteen, is an alcoholic and still very much acts like a child. His father is out of the picture, and his mother’s boyfriend Tom, a truck driver, is rarely home, which makes Manz the man of the house. Manz not only has to deal with all the everyday struggles of growing up, but he’s also beginning to be haunted by voices and they grow louder every day.
Manz becomes more and more paranoid and doesn’t know who he can trust. He meets Vanessa at his summer job, but is wary of her help. The voices in his head tell him that Border Patrol is coming after him, and when he sees signs of Operation Wetback, a horrible deportation plot from the 50’s, he knows they are going to get him. Will Manz be able to tell what is real and what is imagined before the summer is over, or will it be too late?