To represent a young adult with mental illness in a book can be challenging. To depict them beautifully and with any kind of honesty is even more difficult. However, that is exactly what Ms. Anderson winds up doing. She masterfully writes about the frightening descent into schizophrenia. Soon enough we feel Manz's terrifying paranoia that everyone is out to get him. His fear of being deported, despite his being a legal citizen is crippling him. Manz's family does not discuss their problems. His mother drowns the grief of the loss of Gabriel (Manz's half brother) in the whiskey bottles she hides. Tom, Manz's stepfather covers his grief in constant jokes.

Manz wants to help Jed, his best friend and Jed's sister Sally. Their father is physically abusive to the entire family. Sadly, he can't seem to ignore the voices long enough to see any avenues of assistance for them.

This book was lovely, in a heartbreaking sort of way. It was sad to see Manz deteriorate and fall under the spells his own mind was casting on him. As a parent, you long to be the balm that soothes, to have the hand that heals. Mental illness is a cruel monster indeed. You loved one often looks whole and healthy, while inside the confines of their mind, they're waging a war for their very life. Ms. Anderson depicts that desperation, the spiral that pulls you in deeper so well. I appreciated this book for exactly what it was, an honest story, beautifully told. Four big kisses for the honesty and integrity of this one! ( )

Personal response:

This book was fascinating to me, as the main character was struggling to survive while terribly conflicted, and yet he managed to do so for some time despite all the overwhelming circumstances in his young life. It hit home for me, a Chicano whose skin color may become a liability with the impeding SB1070. The aspect of mental illness was described in a way that was totally believable. The conflict of involvement with his White friend's family was also important. This small book addressed many types of conflicts and presented many racial attitudes that are present in the Southwest today.

Cirriculum/programming connections:

I would consider this book of value in a Teen Health Information Fair, as AIDS, suicide, eating disorders,teen pregnancy, and drug/acohol/smoking are often highlighted, but mental illness is not touched on or often overlooked. ( )

Reviewed by Melanie Foust for TeensReadToo.com

Manz's summer starts off regularly enough. Listening to his mother, Delores, come home drunk at night. Getting short-term jobs at ranches in the area with his friend, Jed. Then strange things begin happening.

He starts hearing voices, and they won't stop. They begin telling him what to do, and he starts listening. They tell him that people are after him. He's on the watch, constantly on edge. The border patrol will come to get him any day now, and everyone he knows is a conspirator in their plan. Or so he thinks.

Anderson has created an intriguing cast of characters who all deal with serious issues. Manz has schizophrenia, making it hard to know whether or not to believe anything that comes out of his mouth. At the start of the book, it isn't so bad, but as the story progresses it becomes increasingly worse. Delores has an alcohol addiction that amps up every time her partner, Tom, leaves town. Since Tom is a truck driver, that's fairly often. Manz's friend, Jed, deals with domestic violence from his father at home. Jed's mother and sister suffer, as well.

At less than two-hundred pages, BORDER CROSSING is a very quick read. The plot keeps you alert at all times, never knowing which way things will go. Although the ending isn't quite as clear as I would have liked, it still manages to wrap up the story well, while simultaneously leaving some things for the reader to decide on their own. ( )

BORDER CROSSING by Jessica Lee Anderson
Manz is living on the border, in so many ways. His father was Mexican, his mother is white, and he lives in Texas pretty close to Mexico. Things haven't been right with his Mom since his father died, and since she lost the baby it's gotten even worse. But Manz is starting to worry about things he didn't used to: like Operation Wetback and whether or not his stapdad can be trusted. As we delve further and further into Manz' story, we see that he is not only battling physical and cultural borders, but that he is on another border as well: sanity and delusion. BORDER CROSSING is heartbreaking, real, and impossible to put down. ( )