Minireview: An engaging narrative of some of Thompson's interactions with Mexican immigrants in Brooklyn, particularly the gregarious cabbie Enrique. After getting to know these immigrants and their families as a community organizer, Thompson explores their histories and visits their home towns in southern Mexico. Although somewhat narrowly focused, the book does a good job of putting a "human face" on Mexican immigrants and immigration. ( )

Clearly Thompson's first book. It sets out to chronicle the struggles of illegal Mexican immigrants in New York City by profiling a family Thompson befriended while working as a housing advocate in Brooklyn. It's an interesting and eye-opening story, particularly when Thompson visits Mexico to interview the families who depend on husbands and children working in America to survive, but the writing is uneven and Thompson can never decide if he wants to be a character in the book or a silent omniscient narrator. Sometimes it feels as if the experience of this single family is a little too narrow for the conclusions that Thompson wants to draw -- if they're really living the archetypical illegal immigrant life, I need more data to back it up. ( )