The best books portraying the human side of the immigration “crisis”

This was one of the most sensitive portrayals of the effects of deportation on families that I’ve ever read.

I resonated even more strongly because it was set in New York City (my hometown), and the descriptions of different neighborhoods really came to life. I also appreciated the dual point of view narration (the story is told from both the mother and son’s perspective), and I could relate to both characters, even when they made difficult choices that ended up being hurtful. 

I was intensely moved by the vivid, harrowing portrayal of what people go through in attempting to reach our border and the author’s ability to keep the point of view within the character’s experience, centering on the “showing” and minimizing the “telling.”

The pacing was great. I found myself caught up in the narrator’s journey from beginning to end, and I also gained a deeper understanding of what people actually go through. All of this made the book very worthwhile and important to read despite the controversy surrounding the appropriateness of a white author writing about a Latina woman.

I was very moved by the way the author combined the story of the old man who had escaped Germany on Kindertransport with the young girl in the migrant shelter.

The young girl's voice is especially heartfelt, and the relationship between these two people, who both lost so much in their lives, was rendered very poignantly, showing how–even in dark times–we can find solace through connection. 

Martin Espada’s poems continually wow me, both with the way he uses language and with his choice of material.

This collection includes the poem “Floaters,” the word used by Border Patrol to describe those who die crossing the river, and specifically the incident where a father and daughter died attempting to swim across the Rio Grande, and Border Patrol insisted the photo was fake.

Having witnessed at the child detention center in Homestead, Florida, Espada’s poem "Ode to the Soccer Ball Sailing Across the Barbed Wire Fence" also rang with compassion for the children separated from their parents and locked up.

I love the simplicity of this book and the direct way in which the poet conveys his experience as a volunteer for a group that provides medical care and support for migrants crossing the Sonora Dessert.

Gamble’s close-up view of objects like an abandoned Hello Kitty backpack and a can of pinto beans with ants crawling into the slit allows him to shed light on much deeper stories of human suffering, evoking the reader’s sympathy without proselytizing.