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Border Town #1
Border Town #1: Crossing the Line
In Dos Rios, Texas, life is all about borders—and what happens when you cross the line. A fresh new series in the tradition of Bluford High explores what it's like to grow up on the edge. Nothing is simple in a border town like Dos Rios, in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Even for high school students Fabiola Garza and her younger sister, Alexis, whose parents run a local Tex-Mex restaurant, Dos Rios is full of borders—where you should go, who your friends should be, which boy you should date. Dos Rios is also full of opportunities, but it's a town divided—between the haves and the have-nots, the Whites and the Mexican-Americans, the Texans and the Mexicans, the legal and illegal. But through it all, the Garza sisters have each other. Water can be crossed, but blood is the borderline that holds you together—no matter what.
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2012
12 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
March 14, 2013
Border Town: Crossing the Line
By Malin Alegria
Realistic Fiction
182 pages
Fabiola Garza is an average girl in high school. Her sister Alexis, is a freshman and starting high school. Fabi is excited for her sister to start high school, so Fabi can show her sister around and who to not be around. A guy named Dex Andrews is one of the jocks and Fabi tells her sister not to hang with him or any of the popular girls. But when Alexis falls for Dex and becomes good friends with the populars, Fabi becomes mad. Fabi knows Dex is bad news, but Alexis won't believe her. Then, Fabi's cousin Santiago is blamed for stealing and beating up Chuy (a family friend) and Fabi knows that it's Dex to blame. It's all up to Fabi to prove her cousin's innocense, even if it hurts her sister a lot.
I thought this book was fantastic. It was really good, the plot, the details, everything. A couple times in the book it got a little creepy, because it was talking about robbers and I was homealone reading the book at times. I just really enjoyed this book. I think if anyone doesnt have a book and doesn't know what to read, then they need to pick up this book and read it. This book was some what like a mystery and that's something that I really liked about this book. I like mysteries, because then the book and the plot of the mystery, gets you thinking about a lot of things and how the mystery will turn out in the end of the book. This wasn't a hard book for me and it wasn't to easy for me, so that's how it was a good fit for me. I'm not much of a reader so when I say a book is good, then it must be good. :) When I started this book, I didnt want to put it down. Again, this was a great book.
By Malin Alegria
Realistic Fiction
182 pages
Fabiola Garza is an average girl in high school. Her sister Alexis, is a freshman and starting high school. Fabi is excited for her sister to start high school, so Fabi can show her sister around and who to not be around. A guy named Dex Andrews is one of the jocks and Fabi tells her sister not to hang with him or any of the popular girls. But when Alexis falls for Dex and becomes good friends with the populars, Fabi becomes mad. Fabi knows Dex is bad news, but Alexis won't believe her. Then, Fabi's cousin Santiago is blamed for stealing and beating up Chuy (a family friend) and Fabi knows that it's Dex to blame. It's all up to Fabi to prove her cousin's innocense, even if it hurts her sister a lot.
I thought this book was fantastic. It was really good, the plot, the details, everything. A couple times in the book it got a little creepy, because it was talking about robbers and I was homealone reading the book at times. I just really enjoyed this book. I think if anyone doesnt have a book and doesn't know what to read, then they need to pick up this book and read it. This book was some what like a mystery and that's something that I really liked about this book. I like mysteries, because then the book and the plot of the mystery, gets you thinking about a lot of things and how the mystery will turn out in the end of the book. This wasn't a hard book for me and it wasn't to easy for me, so that's how it was a good fit for me. I'm not much of a reader so when I say a book is good, then it must be good. :) When I started this book, I didnt want to put it down. Again, this was a great book.
May 29, 2012
Book Review:
What a cute little book. I really actually found myself liking this book. There seems to be something actually refreshing about this story. I like it a lot. It was cute.
I found that this is a family that is very loving and caring about one another. Even if they have difficulties. What I like is the way the family pulls together in the end even if it wasn’t what you expected.
What I like is the relationship between the two sisters. They are very different. I really liked Fabiola a lot because I think that Alexis doesn’t realize how much her sister takes on her shoulders. Fabiola is only trying to protect her sister and Alexis doesn’t see things that way. This was an interesting conflict.
Fabiola has a strong connection to her family and what she believes to be right. I mean characters like this are a gem to find. I found her character to have dreams, hopes and much more. Also felt bad that she gets blamed and punished for things that are not her fault.
Alexis relationship with Dex is really a lot of where the conflict in this book starts. There are issues that arise from this relationship and Alexis is blind to some of them in a very interesting way. Fabiola just doesn’t trust him. I also found their conflict to be real and interesting. This read like a teen book.
There are some more serious issues that arise from this book, growing up, conflicts, having dreams, racism, crime, drugs. Some pretty heavy stuff. I hope that they expand on these issues a little bit more.
I really liked the way this book ended. The surprise twist was really good. Just wished they would have expanded on a few more things, but maybe the characters will have grown in the next book and learn more things and grow. All in all a very cute book.
Rating: Four Hearts
What a cute little book. I really actually found myself liking this book. There seems to be something actually refreshing about this story. I like it a lot. It was cute.
I found that this is a family that is very loving and caring about one another. Even if they have difficulties. What I like is the way the family pulls together in the end even if it wasn’t what you expected.
What I like is the relationship between the two sisters. They are very different. I really liked Fabiola a lot because I think that Alexis doesn’t realize how much her sister takes on her shoulders. Fabiola is only trying to protect her sister and Alexis doesn’t see things that way. This was an interesting conflict.
Fabiola has a strong connection to her family and what she believes to be right. I mean characters like this are a gem to find. I found her character to have dreams, hopes and much more. Also felt bad that she gets blamed and punished for things that are not her fault.
Alexis relationship with Dex is really a lot of where the conflict in this book starts. There are issues that arise from this relationship and Alexis is blind to some of them in a very interesting way. Fabiola just doesn’t trust him. I also found their conflict to be real and interesting. This read like a teen book.
There are some more serious issues that arise from this book, growing up, conflicts, having dreams, racism, crime, drugs. Some pretty heavy stuff. I hope that they expand on these issues a little bit more.
I really liked the way this book ended. The surprise twist was really good. Just wished they would have expanded on a few more things, but maybe the characters will have grown in the next book and learn more things and grow. All in all a very cute book.
Rating: Four Hearts
July 15, 2012
I was on a search to find decent young adult novels that featured Latino characters without falling prey to so many of the pitfalls and stereotypes that these characters can undergo in Latino fiction, especially YA fiction. I admit I was disappointed to see the book was thin at just 182 pages, so perhaps people could argue it's a middle grade book. However, Barnes & Noble told me it was young adult and that's what I'm going with.
Fabiola is excited to start high school with her younger sister Alexis. She goes out of her way to explain the rules of Dos Rios High School, but naturally Alexis ignores her sage advice and falls for Dex Andrews, a rich popular kid.
I never got the sense that Fabi (Fabiola) didn't feel comfortable with Alex due to racial differences as it was mostly class based. Alegria also does a good job of not making this into a "all white kids are bad and all Mexican kids are good" type of story.
Once a worker from Fabi's family restaurant is assaulted and her bad boy cousin Santiago is accused, Fabi is on a mission to prove his innocence.
(As a side note, I feel I have to be a bit nitpicky here, but there's a scene where Fabiola's father is pretty rude to some customers, because they wanted something different from the menu. This is The Valley and if you get known as not being flexible you could easily go to the next town over or to one of the bigger cities like McAllen or Brownsville, depending where you are. I grew up on Taqueria Arandas and La Michoacana and both places are pretty flexible when you want something different from their menu, even in their early years, and especially today. La Michoacana being party grocery store part mini restaurant probably has more reason to act like Fabiola's father, but they never have. I just think if he did scream like that and if he was known for doing that at his restaurant, business would have been terrible there.)
Alegria cleverly infused topical issues the Latino community and The Valley currently faces with all of the changes occurring down south. She did her research on Texas with references and comparisons to Houston and the description of The Valley. She understood Texas is one huge monster of a state and not everyone is the same. The characters always reacted to these controversial issues in a way that was appropriate to their personality.
Milo became my favorite character as he has a lot of potential and I'm hoping he'll be in the next book. The family dynamics were great and the characters were all bigger than life. I especially laughed at the Santa Muerte episode, because I swore members of my family had the same reaction to her and the first time I spotted her was on the back of a truck too. When art became life I was tickled.
If you've had your fill of Latino teens who became walking stereotypes or somehow are always the freaky vampire or werewolf this is a great break from that depressing YA trend. Most of the characters are likable and even those who are not saints, such as Santiago, do have their redeeming moments. It's a fun light read and a great addition to the existing multicultural teen books out there.
Fabiola is excited to start high school with her younger sister Alexis. She goes out of her way to explain the rules of Dos Rios High School, but naturally Alexis ignores her sage advice and falls for Dex Andrews, a rich popular kid.
I never got the sense that Fabi (Fabiola) didn't feel comfortable with Alex due to racial differences as it was mostly class based. Alegria also does a good job of not making this into a "all white kids are bad and all Mexican kids are good" type of story.
Once a worker from Fabi's family restaurant is assaulted and her bad boy cousin Santiago is accused, Fabi is on a mission to prove his innocence.
(As a side note, I feel I have to be a bit nitpicky here, but there's a scene where Fabiola's father is pretty rude to some customers, because they wanted something different from the menu. This is The Valley and if you get known as not being flexible you could easily go to the next town over or to one of the bigger cities like McAllen or Brownsville, depending where you are. I grew up on Taqueria Arandas and La Michoacana and both places are pretty flexible when you want something different from their menu, even in their early years, and especially today. La Michoacana being party grocery store part mini restaurant probably has more reason to act like Fabiola's father, but they never have. I just think if he did scream like that and if he was known for doing that at his restaurant, business would have been terrible there.)
Alegria cleverly infused topical issues the Latino community and The Valley currently faces with all of the changes occurring down south. She did her research on Texas with references and comparisons to Houston and the description of The Valley. She understood Texas is one huge monster of a state and not everyone is the same. The characters always reacted to these controversial issues in a way that was appropriate to their personality.
Milo became my favorite character as he has a lot of potential and I'm hoping he'll be in the next book. The family dynamics were great and the characters were all bigger than life. I especially laughed at the Santa Muerte episode, because I swore members of my family had the same reaction to her and the first time I spotted her was on the back of a truck too. When art became life I was tickled.
If you've had your fill of Latino teens who became walking stereotypes or somehow are always the freaky vampire or werewolf this is a great break from that depressing YA trend. Most of the characters are likable and even those who are not saints, such as Santiago, do have their redeeming moments. It's a fun light read and a great addition to the existing multicultural teen books out there.
December 30, 2012
As someone who was born and raised on the Texas-Mexico border where these stories are set, I was thrilled to find this YA series about small-town life with big-time teen drama. I'm certainly not the target audience for these books, but they still turned out to be a fun read. As a fellow writer, I appreciated author Malin Alegria's expert description of landscape and climate, like when she writes that the heat singes your skin like a fiery brand. I also enjoyed the nearly real-life familiarity of characters like Fabiola Garza, or Fabi, as she's known, who toils away at the family's Mexican restaurant. The story itself didn't get stuck too deep in the ruts of typical high school dramas--dealing with jocks and popular mean girls--thanks to up-to-date concerns with hate crimes and immigration.
November 30, 2017
The book Border Town Crossing the Line is an amazing book. It really caught my attention because it’s a bilingual book. There are Spanish words as well as English words.
This book is about a girl whose name is Fabi, who has a family restaurant. The setting for this book takes place in Dos Rios,Texas, where there are borders and lines you shouldn’t cross. Fabi’s younger sister, Alexis is a freshman and Fabi is excited that Alexis will be joining her in high school but also nervous. There are plenty of people Fabi doesn’t want her younger sister talking to or hanging with. In Dos Rios, Texas their towns are divided into illegal and legal people and whites and Mexicans. Fabi’s younger sister begins to hang with all of the wrong people and that’s when all the problems begin to happen. But Fabi and Alexis both help each other out through all of it.
This book is about a girl whose name is Fabi, who has a family restaurant. The setting for this book takes place in Dos Rios,Texas, where there are borders and lines you shouldn’t cross. Fabi’s younger sister, Alexis is a freshman and Fabi is excited that Alexis will be joining her in high school but also nervous. There are plenty of people Fabi doesn’t want her younger sister talking to or hanging with. In Dos Rios, Texas their towns are divided into illegal and legal people and whites and Mexicans. Fabi’s younger sister begins to hang with all of the wrong people and that’s when all the problems begin to happen. But Fabi and Alexis both help each other out through all of it.
September 13, 2012
Crossing the Line highlights the life of the Garza family, their family dynamics and the relationship of the Garza sisters. Fabiola, the elder sister, naturally looks out for her younger sister, but this also seems like an expectation as Fabiola’s parents leaves her with the responsibility of making sure her younger sister does the right thing.
It was an interesting read and very insightful when it comes to culture. I didn’t find the story itself very surprising, but, I did find the characters and their cultural experiences intriguing. It’s also a very quick read and a book that can open the roads to many discussions about race, social class, gender expectations and sibling relationships.
It was an interesting read and very insightful when it comes to culture. I didn’t find the story itself very surprising, but, I did find the characters and their cultural experiences intriguing. It’s also a very quick read and a book that can open the roads to many discussions about race, social class, gender expectations and sibling relationships.
September 25, 2012
A book in the Border Town series. Fabiola is really excited to have her younger sister Alexis join her at high school this year. Fabi carefully tells her all the “rules” for successful navigation, including which students to avoid. Alexis, however, quickly ignores all of her older sister's sage advice and falls in with people who are bound to get her in trouble. An excellent addition for your Latina collection.
September 9, 2012
Quick read about a Mexican American girl & her family living in a small "Border Town" 10 miles from the Mexican border in Texas. #1 in the series. Typical high school social issues addressed in addition to immigrants & undocumented workers.
December 29, 2012
Quick, easy read. Pretty predictable story line. Would love to have had more character and plot development.
October 30, 2015
Have you ever read a realistic book that grab's your attention in every way possible,if not mines will do that for you!The genre of my book is realistic fiction.In my opinion this book is filled with drama and confusion,But i like those type of book this one in specifically because i can relate to some of the problems,like one the main character's Alexis Garza Fabiola's younger sister ,she struggles in school and she gets compared to her older sister alot that's me and my older sister because she does better than younger her sister.
Family is everything to Fabiola (Fabi) when it comes to helping her younger sister Alexis learn the rules about high school; working with her family at their Mexican restaurant; and working to prove her cousin's innocence, where Fabi must step across boundaries to confront her sister's new love interest.*SPOILER*Alexi's tries to date a senior and she's only a freshman,The seniors does some horrible things Alexis.His name is Dex Andrews he gets Alexis in a lot of trouble from like stealing from her own family and other people and fighting and not listening did obeying her family etc.
The setting is usually at school or at there family restaurant.Alexi's family switches up on her,they don't claim her as a daughter or grand daughter or sister anymore.Somebody wanted to cross the border,to see there other family,but they didn't make the smartest choices.So they left the family member who acted a fool.Then at the end of the day she was family and they loved her so they took her back and re-made her an Garza again!The conflict of this book is person vs faith because ex-boyfriend of Alexis committed a serious crime and Alexis took the blame for it so love can do some dangerous things to you and look where she's a now?The theme is romance because this whole book revolves around someone loving someone else,example:"Alexis stop hanging around him,hes a bad influence on you i don't care i love him".
In my opinion this book is just good and its not like any other book i ever read.i would love for u to read this book because it shows you the real struggles of an family that dosent communicate much,like once there father told them "I wished we can talk to your mother so we can be a family once again".
I would rate this book 5 stars cause u can read it when your bored cause after you read this u wont be bored no more.This book gives you a complete understanding of the book because theirs probably moments when your like wait what happened then theirs some parts when your like omg that really didn't just happen.i recommended this book to Denise because she usually like this typa books.this is my book review on the book border town crossing the line i hoped u enjoyed it have a nice day.
Family is everything to Fabiola (Fabi) when it comes to helping her younger sister Alexis learn the rules about high school; working with her family at their Mexican restaurant; and working to prove her cousin's innocence, where Fabi must step across boundaries to confront her sister's new love interest.*SPOILER*Alexi's tries to date a senior and she's only a freshman,The seniors does some horrible things Alexis.His name is Dex Andrews he gets Alexis in a lot of trouble from like stealing from her own family and other people and fighting and not listening did obeying her family etc.
The setting is usually at school or at there family restaurant.Alexi's family switches up on her,they don't claim her as a daughter or grand daughter or sister anymore.Somebody wanted to cross the border,to see there other family,but they didn't make the smartest choices.So they left the family member who acted a fool.Then at the end of the day she was family and they loved her so they took her back and re-made her an Garza again!The conflict of this book is person vs faith because ex-boyfriend of Alexis committed a serious crime and Alexis took the blame for it so love can do some dangerous things to you and look where she's a now?The theme is romance because this whole book revolves around someone loving someone else,example:"Alexis stop hanging around him,hes a bad influence on you i don't care i love him".
In my opinion this book is just good and its not like any other book i ever read.i would love for u to read this book because it shows you the real struggles of an family that dosent communicate much,like once there father told them "I wished we can talk to your mother so we can be a family once again".
I would rate this book 5 stars cause u can read it when your bored cause after you read this u wont be bored no more.This book gives you a complete understanding of the book because theirs probably moments when your like wait what happened then theirs some parts when your like omg that really didn't just happen.i recommended this book to Denise because she usually like this typa books.this is my book review on the book border town crossing the line i hoped u enjoyed it have a nice day.
May 15, 2014
While I love a good story that's multicultural, this one disappoints a bit. Good characters, even a pretty decent set-up as far as plot goes. But the whole thing kind of came together with too much coincidence to resolve everything. And cliche ran a bit high (really, Dex HAD to be related to the judge).
Still, it was fun and a quick read. I'll go back and try the next book on the series even if I'm not expecting much.
Still, it was fun and a quick read. I'll go back and try the next book on the series even if I'm not expecting much.
February 20, 2016
Won this book free through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. I enjoyed this book. It was easy to read and had some nice life lessons embedded into the story. The main characters are likable and relate-able. I am going to pass this book on to a friends teenage daughter as I feel it would be a good book for a teen and think it would also be enjoyable for the age group.
July 5, 2012
This was a cute book that is definitely for 7-9 grade girls. Although it has Spanish words, and Mexican culture and characters, I think any girl would like this book because everyone can relate to family/friend drama. I will put this easy read on my bookshelf for my freshmen and see what they think :)
August 21, 2014
Fast read but the overall plot and characters didn't hold my interest as well as I'd hoped. This would have been better if there had been more character development. There are three more books in the series, but this one didn't perk my interest enough to make me want to read on. It was just really "okay" and had potential to be more.
December 15, 2013
Familia is everything to Fabiola (Fabi) when it comes to helping her younger sister Alexis learn the rules about high school; working with her family at their Mexican restaurant; and working to prove her cousin's innocence, where Fabi must step across boundaries to confront her sister's new love interest--Dex Andrews.
A series that shows the culture of Latino youth to all readers.
A series that shows the culture of Latino youth to all readers.
May 8, 2015
The book entitled Border Town Crossing the Line by Malin Alegria is about Fabiola’s sister Alexis just entered high school. While Fabiola AKA Fabi wants to guide and help her sister through high school Alexis makes her own friends and becomes popular. Also throughout the story Fabi deals with family problems. I recommend this book if you like drama.
November 6, 2013
I think it was a good book because it tells about Fabi and Alexis tries to find out of Santiago's guilty problems but they think it wasn't his fault that made into that he broke through the restuarant and stolen foods.
September 24, 2016
This is a new series we got for the lit center. I really enjoyed the mix of Spanish and English. There was some drama and Fabi and Alexis remind me of some of my kids. A great book for teenagers. I kinda want to read the next one.
April 8, 2017
I tried to read it a few years back, but didn't finish it. I totally wish I had then, though. When I was younger, I was confused by the amount of Spanish used (though younger me forgot to look in the back and read the Spanish-English glossary!)
March 28, 2012
Recommend to 7th - 9th grade girls.
December 12, 2012
I loved it, it's the type of book that sisters that are close should read
February 23, 2013
really good book you must read it
October 11, 2013
it is a awesome book i love how it has a mexican background that i connect with the language cant wait to get the next book
March 25, 2014
This book was a great book I enjoyed reading it and I didn't want to stop reading it because it got really interesting.
Want to read
April 30, 2014I think that this book is going to hook me up and I won't be able to put it down and stop reading it!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
January 21, 2016It sounds like me with my brothers and i liked how the author made the reader feel like it was them in the book
December 16, 2016
A great Middle Grade read. We need diverse books!!
October 28, 2018
This book was recommended on a list as a good book to read for Hispanic Heritage month so I bought a copy.
At first I was excited. It's set in the Rio Grande Valley. Although I haven't lived there for over 30 years, I still consider the Valley home. Even better, it's set near McAllen, my hometown, in a fictional town called Dos Rios.
Then I became worried when I read that the author is from San Francisco. What could she know about the Valley? Then I read that she worked with Valleyites in her research and then I saw Alton, a tiny town no one really knows about, mentioned in the story and I perked up.
The story itself is okay. I didn't care much for the little sister. Stuff was alluded to without any story so I thought I was reading the books out of order. (I wasn't.) I'd like to learn more but I was left a bit lost at times.
I'll be checking the rest of the books out of the library.
At first I was excited. It's set in the Rio Grande Valley. Although I haven't lived there for over 30 years, I still consider the Valley home. Even better, it's set near McAllen, my hometown, in a fictional town called Dos Rios.
Then I became worried when I read that the author is from San Francisco. What could she know about the Valley? Then I read that she worked with Valleyites in her research and then I saw Alton, a tiny town no one really knows about, mentioned in the story and I perked up.
The story itself is okay. I didn't care much for the little sister. Stuff was alluded to without any story so I thought I was reading the books out of order. (I wasn't.) I'd like to learn more but I was left a bit lost at times.
I'll be checking the rest of the books out of the library.
November 2, 2020
Nataly Parraga- Si yo fuera el terapista de Fabiola, le diría que lo que hizo estuvo bien. Aunque Alexis estaba enojada con ella por lo que hizo y cómo actuó con ella, todo lo que ella hizo vino de amor y por querer proteger a su hermana pequeña. Fabiola siguió tratando de contar a Alexis sobre qué tipo de persona era dex. Le diría a Fabiola que no se sienta mal por tratar de proteger a su hermana. Solo se siente así porque su hermana no ve lo que ella ve, pero lo que importa es mantenerla a salvo y fuera de problemas. Otra cosa que le diría es que es una buena hermana porque nunca dejó de tratar de proteger a su hermana. Lo último que le diría a Fabiola es que la vida no siempre es fácil, pero siempre tendrás tu familia que te ayudará y estará a tu lado como lo hiciste con Alexis.
March 18, 2020
Crossing the Line is a great book. I really enjoyed reading it because the main character is so humble. If I could have a friend like her, I would. Her story is so crazy and unique. She tries to help everyone out, even though she has her own problems. She never knows how to give up and I like that about her. I can definitely relate to her in some ways. I love everything about this book, the plot, the setting, and all the characters. This book also has a lot of mystery, which is great.
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