A review by janewhitehurst
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

4.0

I read this for The Big Read and I put it off for a while, thinking it might be super dense or boring...but I was pleasantly surprised and ended up really loving the book. It tells the story of four friends in their late teens who live in a small, southern Mexico town. When they have a sudden realization that all the men in their town have moved to the United States to find work, they go on a mission to bring back the men. The novel weaves themes of friendship, family, poverty, illegal immigration, and patriotism into a really quick-moving travel story. I found that once I started reading, it was tough to put this one down.