48 out of 100 for 2010 . . .

Book People in Austin is the largest independent bookstore in the world. Everytime I stumble into there (less often than I'd like, maybe once every year or two) I grab hold of the books recommended by the staff, or copies of books signed by authors who visited the store. Doing this has led me to many great books that I never would have run across in the local Barnes and Noble (and no, I don't bash BNN and am glad I finally live in a town big enough to have one). This is how I stumbled across this extraordinary (mostly comic) novel.

'tis the story of Nayeli, a young woman a few years out of high school, who lives in the fictional village of Tres Camarrones, which has been taken over by a local drug cartel. There are no adult men in the village to oppose them; all have gone 'into the North' to find work. The only males living in the village are a few old men, a few boys, and the local homosexual named Tacho (Nayeli's boss, also her good friend).

Nayeli and her friends hatch a plan to go to El Norte to find seven "warriors" to come back to Tres Camarrones to rid the town of the drug cartel and to repopulate the town. She also hopes to find her father. Nayeli, two other girls, and Tacho head north, face a harrowing border crossing, deportation, another crossing, San Diego, and a series of harrowing ordeals on their quest. Along the way they encounter racism and kindness, experienced Border Patrol agents who recognize the humanity of those who cross as well as Rambo types who abuse their power, unexpected kindness, and sudden cruelty. The main mode of the novel is comic (the openly gay Tachi is mistaken for a member of a terror organization at one point, for example).

The novel could be called 'There's Something About Nayeli' because of the effect she has on people. She helps people remember the best things about themselves, helps them to remember their dreams, and awakes in them a sense of wanting to be a part of something larger.

Other themes are present; when she begins to tell Mexican men that she wants them to come home, that she, her village, and all Mexico need them, they are at first leery. When the men realize she is serious, she has a different problem . . . she only wanted seven men, and she finds first twenty seven, then seventy, then more . . . the men are mostly miserable in the States, and, more than anything else, they want to go home (an interesting side note is that much of the recent immigration 'reform' also makes it illegal to cross back into Mexico, so it's harder for people to bo back who want to).

The novel is also a celebration both of Mexico and the States; Nayli finds much beauty and much that is wonderful on her journey from the interior of Mexico to the outskirts of Chicago.

I won't spoil the whole story, but Nayeli does not get everything she hoped and dreamed of. However, she finds she is much more able than she knows, and is a hero to those around her, even though she may not feel heroic herself.

Nayeli is a character whom it's worth taking the time to get to know. Highly recommended