Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea on audio was a delight, especially with the voice and passion of Susan Ericksen. Nayeli is a young girl working in a taco shop in Tres Camarones, who continues to idolize her father that left her and her mother many years ago.

Her home is under attack from bandits and drug dealers, but many residents have been abandoned by other men seeking the opportunities found in America. While watching The Magnificent Seven with Yul Brynner, Nayeli and her friends -- Tacho, Yolo, and Vampi -- decide they are going to make a trek to America to bring back the seven they need to save their town.

The audio brings to life the accents, the culture, the beauty of each scene and the playful sparring between these characters and their new surroundings. Ericksen's passion for these characters and this story is clear, illuminating the innocence of Nayeli and her friends and the hardships they face.

From the colorful personalities of Nayeli's gay boss, Tacho, to her vampire/Goth girlfriend Vampi and perky and whiny Yolo to the matriarch of the village Nayeli's Aunt Irma, Urrea paints a mosaic of Mexico and the struggles of illegal immigrants and those seeking a better life. Readers will by far enjoy the quirky Atomico a warrior from the dump outside Tijuana the most as he seeks to defend the four from the ills of the world.

My husband and I were riveted when the audio rolled us to work every morning. Atomico was my husband's favorite character because he was like a comic book character; "I AM ATOMICO." While the border crossings were the most exciting aspects of the novel for my husband, the end of the novel fell flat; he considered it an open ending as if there were more to come -- that the journey had not ended. Urrea's writing is passionate and tangible, capturing the reader instantly and weaving a tale that envelops them completely.

Into the Beautiful North is one of the best novels I've read in 2009, but I plan to read this in hard copy as well. ( )

I just finished reading this book today and have to say I enjoyed it more as I read further into the book. When I first started reading the book, I kept putting it down, however at a certain point, I kept going. This is a good book for a weekend read. I liked the characters and storyline. ( )

Nayeli is young, beautiful, and fascinated with the Beautiful North; i.e., the U.S. Her father left to find work in Illinois. Most of the village men also went north looking for a better life for their families. Nayeli fears for the safety of her small Mexican village and, along with her home-girls and their gay friend, travels north looking for seven courageous men (as in The Magnificent Seven) to protect the village. Despite this somewhat imprudent premise, there is a lot of drama involved in the border crossing(s) and Nayleli's cross-country trip in search of her father. Urrea's latest effort was interesting, but not in the same caliber as The Hummingbird's Daughter, lacking its scope, passion, and historical detail. ( )

Bueno! Este libro es muy hard core! This is a great read. You won't want to put it down. The characters that Alberto Urrea develops are well done and hilarious and human. Brings a wider world view to the border issue than one gets from the American media. ( )