Genre:

I chose Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros for the Pura Belpre Award winner category. This middle school novel won the award in 2021.

Target Age Group:

The target age group is 8-12 years.

Summary:

     Efren Divided is the heart-wrenching story of Efren Nava, a 12-year-old boy who is confronted with the sudden deportation of his Ama (Efren's mother) and the responsibilities he has to undertake to help out his Apa (Efren's father). His younger twin siblings, Mia and Max, need him, emotionally and physically, and his life with his friends and teachers is disrupted when his world seems to be falling apart. Efren discovers the courage he didn't know he possessed and the feeling of hope is a constant thread that makes this story an exceptional one.

Justification:

    I chose Efren Divided because it is a contemporary realistic fiction middle-grade novel that addresses the humaneness of the immigration laws here in the United States and how these laws affect an immigrant family with undocumented parents in the household. This story grapples with an important social justice issue people should discuss and pay attention to on a daily basis. Efren Divided brings to light the difficulties immigrant families face in their struggle to survive in America.

Evaluation:

    For this review I will be evaluating setting, character, and tension. The setting in Efren Divided takes place in the present and immediately apprises the reader of Efren's living situation. Efren and his family live in a studio apartment which is one large living space with a small bathroom and tiny kitchen. This may be enough room for one person but for a family of five it clearly manifests the hardships and at what economic level Efren's family is existing. School is where Efren finds a level playing field, a refuge, and the obstacles and discomforts of his world fade into the distance.

    The characters in this novel are multidimensional. You feel what they feel. When Apa is sad and feeling overwhelmed about Ama being taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), you can sense the desperation and the loss he is experiencing because of her absence. Efren also experiences this sadness but he pushes forward because he knows if he isn't resilient and responsible, he would greatly disappoint his mother who has always been so supportive of him. Even the lively 6-year-old twin siblings, Max and Mia, are severely conscious of the loss of their mother yet they know Efren and Apa are doing everything they can to create some normalcy in a very abnormal situation. 

    The tension was palpable in Efren Divided almost from the beginning of the book. Efren was constantly worried about the safety of his parents from ICE. When Efren was at school his history teacher, Mr. Garrett, surprisingly, no longer seemed to enjoy his job so the entire class felt he didn't care about them for reasons unknown, and always seemed to be on edge. Also, when Efren went to Mexico to deliver some money to his Ama, the tension rose to an unusual level when he was unsure about who to trust in Mexico. The reader of this outstanding book will definitely turn the pages quickly to discover how and when these conflicts will be rectified.

Citation:

Cisneros, E. (2020). Efren divided. Quill Tree Books.