In the Midst of Winter in Homer Public Library 2018 Lit Lineup

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Feb 07, 2018 Anne Egbert rated it really liked it

Immigration is such a thorny issue in our country. And immigration is at the heart of this book. The story revolves around 3 main characters. Richard is a 60 year old human rights professor in New York who went to Brazil to do research, married and had 2 children, and lived there for years until tragedy changed his life and sent him back to the states. Lucia is from Chile, has known Richard professionally for years, and is living in an apartment in the building Richard owns and working at the sa Immigration is such a thorny issue in our country. And immigration is at the heart of this book. The story revolves around 3 main characters. Richard is a 60 year old human rights professor in New York who went to Brazil to do research, married and had 2 children, and lived there for years until tragedy changed his life and sent him back to the states. Lucia is from Chile, has known Richard professionally for years, and is living in an apartment in the building Richard owns and working at the same university. She lost a brother, one of the disappeared, in Chile, and has written extensively about this terrible period in her country. Evelyn is much younger, from Guatemala, who entered the country illegally after the death of 2 of her brothers due to gang violence in her country. The gang had also sworn to kill her, although she was a teenager when she made the perilous journey to the US. Through a completely random accident in the middle of a killer snowstorm, which ends up involving a murdered body in the trunk of a car, the three are thrown together and embark on a wild journey during which they share their history with each other. I liked the historical perspective of their stories, and the comparisons to present day policies.
I have lived in Idaho all of my life, almost 70 years and immigration has been an issue here as long as I can remember. Idaho is a large state geographically, but not large in population or importance. We are actually divided in two, north Idaho and southern Idaho being almost like 2 different places. I have actually spent an equal amount of time in each part of the state. The south is very conservative and historically agricultural. Immigration has always been part of the landscape due to migrant farm workers, primarily from Mexico, many of which settled her. And it has always been uncomfortable, cruel, often bigoted and divisive. The northern part of the state is linked to mining, lumber, recreation, and tourism. Although immigration is an issue now in the north, it has not been so for as long as the south. I grew up in the southern half. I knew migrant kids growing up. I also worked at Head Start and a migrant summer school. I made home visits to the Labor Camps. But in actuality there was very little contact between the two populations. But this is what gives me hope today. I have a granddaughter in the 6th grade. Her basketball team makes me smile. It combines girls wearing hijabs who come from the middle east, girls from many parts of Africa, girls from eastern Europe, and girls who are the granddaughters of migrant farm workers. And they all work together and play basketball fiercely, and cooperate and scramble for every point. And no one cares where they are from. And they are all teammates and friends. It gives me hope. ...more

Like · see review

Mar 09, 2018 Amber marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2018-lit-lineup

Like

Jan 06, 2019 Catriona Reynolds rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019

Like

From the Bookshelf of Homer Public Library 2018 Lit Lineup…

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

What Members Thought

Homer Public Library 2018 Lit Lineup