October 8, 2018
The Great Depression has forced 10-year-old Margarita’s family to move from New Mexico to Wyoming, where her older brother and father have found railroad jobs. Margarita has two goals in her new home: to help her family earn the money to pay taxes on the family land in New Mexico, where her grandmother lives, and to make her first-ever friend. Margarita and her family integrate into their community, selling eggs and tortillas in the local store. Margarita befriends Evangeline but is understandably uncomfortable with the way Evangeline Americanizes her name and confuses New Mexico with Mexico. And when a few workers decide that the “whole family should go back—back to Mexico,” Margarita, her family, and their friends must fight for their place in their new home. Spanish phrases are woven into the story, as are references to the family’s cultural traditions, such as the holiday Las Posadas. Debut author Sanchez, a winner of the SCBWI Emerging Voices Award, has created a rich slice-of-life tale with a protagonist who learns to advocate for herself and her family. Ages 8–12.