Disappeared

It's been four months since Sara's best friend disappeared.  Juarez, Mexico, may be getting better, but it's still not safe for young women to walk alone in the evenings.  The Desaparecidos may be found dead or never found at all.  Sara can't give up on Linda, and she uses her position as a newspaper reporter to investigate what's happing with the missing girls.  When she gets an important piece of evidence and a death threat, she begins to fear one of her trusted colleagues is really an enemy.

Sara's brother, Emiliano, may still be a high school kid, but he has big plans.  Ever since his dad left for the United States, Emiliano has been working to supplement their income and nursing his anger against his father.  He got into some pretty serious trouble a few years ago, but Brother Patricio and the Jiparis (like the Boy Scouts) helped him get his life together.  Now he is a leader in the Jiparis, a star soccer player, and a good student with a business selling handicrafts on the side.  But this isn't enough to win him Perla Rubi, the girl he loves.  To win her father's favor, he will have to prove he is willing to do what it takes to give her a good life.  Can he sacrifice his principles to get ahead and win the girl?

But when the danger gets too intense, they will have to flee through the desert in hopes of finding asylum in the United States.  Now they are at risk from their enemies in Mexico, Border Patrol agents, and the desert itself.

Francisco X. Stork's newest book is a story of making the difficult decisions and sacrificing yourself for not just the good of a loved one but society in general.  A point in this book's favor is definitely the portrayal of people who are entering the United States illegally because they don't have a choice.  It's a different narrative from the one we are hearing on the news right now.  I'm only giving this book three stars, though, because it just kind of peters out.  I'm fine with an open ending, but this one just seemed to run out of gas.  Also, I think the Scholastic book trailer is a little misleading.  I know they are trying to sell the book, but the trailer makes the book seem like a more traditional thriller.  So...watch at your own risk!