Reviews

The Crossroads by Alexandra Diaz

maggie_wultz's review against another edition

4.0

When I finished "The Only Road", I wished for a continuation of Jaime's story and was thrilled to find it in this book.

This novels greatest strength is tackling intense topics (documentation, deportation, immigration and even sexual preference) seamlessly and realistically. As a teacher, I better understand my students from immigrant families after reading Diaz's two novels.

I highly recommend this to anyone but especially educators and think it would be a fabulous book for book groups at the middle level or a novel study.

kerrin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

yapha's review against another edition

4.0

Fabulous follow up to The Only Road and a must read for anyone who wants to know the rest of Jaime and Angela's story. Both of these books are essential reads with the current climate towards refugees from Latin America. Highly recommended for grades 5 & up.

jengennari's review against another edition

5.0

Read this sequel of The Only Road. Well done, with lots of new school fears and misunderstandings (compounded by the language barrier). Also captures the current mistreatment of immigrants.

evamadera1's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I had really high hopes for this book after how much I loved the original that I read a few years back. Unfortunately, instead of continuing to challenge the characters and show original growth, several of the characters took steps backward or seemingly uncharacteristic steps that were not explored. 
I did not dislike the book. Diaz included a lot of reality in the book in a way that makes even more of an impact when one takes into consideration the time period in which she sets the book. This makes it even more impressive that she manages to write the book in a way that it could potentially be timeless meaning, it could apply to multiple different (recent) eras.
I think most of the reason that I rated this lower (but still really high!) comes from the disappointment as well as comparison to the first book.

ajaubrey1's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jennybeastie's review against another edition

4.0

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.

curlyandcarbonated's review against another edition

4.0

I liked The Crossroads even more than The Only Road!

doublen's review against another edition

5.0

Every teacher needs to read this.

abgoelz's review against another edition

5.0

I can see this as a really good resource for middle grade kids for building empathy for refugees and the experience of being undocumented in the US in 2019.