Star in the Forest (10 page)

I
was inspired to write
Star in the Forest
after hearing from a twelve-year-old reader who felt a connection with the main character, Clara, in my book
What the Moon Saw
. But this girl pointed out one big difference: Clara was born in the United States and could freely cross the Mexican border. This girl, however, had been born in Mexico and immigrated here illegally with her parents. They came to the United States to work because they couldn’t find jobs in Mexico that would pay for decent housing, food, clothes, and education. This girl wanted to visit her relatives in Mexico, especially her father, who had recently been deported. But if she went, it would be too dangerous to return.

This girl’s story is a common one in our country now, and part of a bigger immigration story. For hundreds of years, people—including my own ancestors—have moved here to find jobs and opportunities. But with every new wave of immigrants, Americans have faced challenges in adapting to the newcomers. Some Americans have worried that immigrants would change their lives for the worse. They have feared that newcomers would take their jobs, crowd their communities, bring crime, harm their values, unfairly use their resources, threaten their language, or damage their culture.

On the other hand, many Americans have focused on the good things that newcomers offer their communities. Thanks to immigration, the United States has a variety of music, languages, and foods that make people’s lives richer. Newcomers often bring good family and work values, while paying taxes, spending money, and doing much-needed labor. Many Americans understand that immigrants are often escaping tough circumstances and doing their best to improve their families’ lives.

During the late 1990s, I was living in a beautiful, but poor, region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Nearly everyone I knew had relatives in the United States, doing construction work, agricultural labor, hotel cleaning,
and other physically demanding jobs. These people were undocumented immigrants because they were working in the United States without legal permission. My friends explained that while it was sad to have loved ones so far away, the money sent by their relatives paid for their families’ basic needs.

After I moved from Mexico to the Southwest United States, I became friends with many Latin Americans who were undocumented immigrants. I’ve seen how their lives have changed as the government has more strictly enforced immigration laws in recent years. Previously, our country tolerated a certain level of illegal immigration because there were many physically demanding jobs that needed to be filled. In the early 2000s, however, the American government began to strengthen border security, punish companies that hired undocumented immigrants, and make it difficult for such immigrants to get a driver’s license.

As a result, life has become very hard for my immigrant friends and their kids. Because they fear being deported to Mexico, bosses and coworkers can take advantage of them. Because they can’t get a Colorado driver’s license, they worry about the police pulling them over. And because of the tough security at the border, immigrants have to cross in more remote
places, where they might be assaulted or kidnapped—both of which happened to a friend of mine. Now some immigrants feel too scared to return to Mexico for visits the way they used to. Other immigrants have decided to go back to Mexico permanently to live with their relatives, despite the poverty there. Other immigrants have been deported, often leaving kids and spouses behind in the United States.

This situation is especially hard for undocumented children. Many have spent their lives here, have gone to American schools, and speak English perfectly. They feel at home in the United States, but without legal papers, their opportunities for college and jobs are limited.

Right now, hardly anyone is happy with the state of undocumented immigration to the United States. Almost everyone agrees that the situation needs to change somehow; for example, through the creation of more migrant worker programs. Some people have proposed laws that would give undocumented immigrant teens legal status so that they can go to college and find professional jobs here. What do you think the solution is?

Please visit
www.lauraresau.com
for ideas on using this book to start a discussion of immigration issues
.

Ni-mitz nequi
(nee-MEETS nay-KEE):
I love you

Xono
(
SHO-noh
): Zitlally’s father’s village

Zitlally
(seet-LAH-lee):
Star (spelling variation of
Citlali)

*
Nahuatl was the language of the ancient Aztecs. Forms of Nahuatl are still spoken by about one and a half million people. Most Nahuatl speakers come from rural communities in central Mexico, and their dialects often differ from village to village. Some English words derived from Nahuatl are
avocado, chili, chocolate, coyote
, and
tomato
. A number of Nahuatl names are now popular in Mexico, such as Xochitl
(SOH-cheel;
flower) and Cuauhtemoc
(coo-ow-TAY-mohc;
falling eagle).

bienvenido
(bee-AYN vay-NEE-doh):
welcome

deportado
(day-porr-TAH-doh):
deported

deportadas
(day-porr-TAH-dahs):
deported (feminine plural form)

el Norte
(ayl NOHRR-tay):
the North (refers to the United States)

estrella
(ays-TRAY-yah):
star

feliz cumpleaños
(fay-LEES coom-plee-AHN-yohs):
happy birthday

guapo
(GWAH-poh):
handsome

hasta mañana
(AHS-tah man-YAH-nah):
see you tomorrow

hermanas
(ayrr-MAH-nahs):
sisters

Jesús María José
(hay-ZOOS mah-REE-ah hoh-SAY):
Jesus Mary Joseph

la migra
(la MEE-grah):
border patrol

“
Las Mañanitas
“
(lahs mahn-yah-NEE-tahs):
a traditional birthday song

mi amor
(mee ah-MOHRR):
my love

migrantes
(mee-GRAHN-tays):
migrants

mi vida
(mee VEE-dah):
my life

m’hija
(MEE-hah):
my daughter

mucho gusto
(MOO-choh GOOS-toh):
nice to meet you

nervios
(NAYRR-vee-ohs):
nerves

noticias
(noh-TEE-see-ahs):
news

por favor
(porr fah-FOHRR):
please

pueblo
(PWAY-bloh):
town or village

que perro
(kay PAY-rroh):
what a dog

rancheras
(rrahn-CHAY-rahs):
kind of traditional Mexican music

se habla español
(say HAH-blah ays-pahn-YOHL):
Spanish spoken

secuestrado
(say-kways-TRAH-doh):
kidnapped

señora
(sayn-YOH-rah):
ma’am/Mrs.

señorita
(sayn-yoh-REE-tah):
miss/Ms.

si Dios quiere
(see dee-OHS kee-AY-ray):
God willing

suelo
(SWAY-loh):
[hit the] ground

telenovelas
(tay-lay-noh-VAY-lahs):
soap operas

tres leches
(TRAYS LAY-chays):
three milks (a kind of cake)

vámonos
(VAH-moh-nohs):
let’s go

Laura Resau lived in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, Mexico, for two years as an English teacher and anthropologist. After teaching English to immigrants in the southwest United States for nearly a decade, she now writes full-time in Colorado, where she lives with her husband, her dog, and her son. She is also the author of
What the Moon Saw
and
Red Glass
.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2010 by Laura Resau
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Gary Blythe

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Resau, Laura.
Star in the forest / Laura Resau.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: After eleven-year-old Zitlally’s father is deported to Mexico, she takes refuge in her trailer park’s forest of rusted car parts, where she befriends a spunky neighbor and finds a stray dog that she nurses back to health and believes she must keep safe so that her father will return.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89594-4
[1. Illegal aliens—Fiction. 2. Fathers—Fiction. 3. Trailer camps—Fiction. 4. Dogs—Fiction. 5. Friendship—Fiction. 6. Mexican Americans—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.R2978St 2010    [Fic]—dc22   2009003898

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