Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother

The unforgettable true story of one boy's dangerous journey to reunite with his mother and a powerful look at the human realities of migration.

“A heartwrenching account. Provides a human face, both beautiful and scarred, for the undocumented. A must read."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

Adapted for young readers by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Sonia Nazario, Enrique's Journey tells the remarkable true story of Enrique, a teenager from Honduras who embarks on a perilous journey across Mexico to find the mother who was forced to leave him years earlier in search of work in the United States.

Drawing on years of immersive reporting, Nazario chronicles Enrique's determination as he faces extraordinary obstacles, while illuminating the complex choices families make in pursuit of safety, opportunity, and a better future. Both deeply personal and rigorously reported, this award-winning work of narrative nonfiction invites readers to explore resilience, family, immigration, and hope through the eyes of one young person.

This young readers edition includes an eight-page photo insert and an epilogue detailing what happened to Enrique and his family after the original adult publication.


"Nazario's straightforward . . . journalistic writing style largely serves the complex, sprawling story effectively. A valuable addition to young adult collections."—School Library Journal

"This powerfully written survival story personalizes the complicated, pervasive, and heart-wrenching debates about immigration and immigrants' rights and will certainly spark discussion in the classroom and at home."—Booklist

An NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the Year

A Junior Library Guild Selection