Book Review: The Only Road

The book The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz is about a girl named Angela and a boy named Jamie. They have to leave their home in Guatemala and walk to safety in Texas to be with Jamie’s brother. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars because it was really good, but there were a couple parts where it was kind of slow, but it was a really good book. I liked it because there are lots of characters and there are a lot of times where they almost get caught and then the chapter ends, so it is very suspenseful.

This book is about two kids who are living in Guatemala. Jamie, who is 12 and Angela, who is 15. In the beginning of the book, Jamie hears a ear piercing scream. He jumps up and runs to the door. He tries to see what it was, but his mother stops him. Then just by the look in her eye, he knew, his cousin and best friend were dead. His cousin (Miguel) was almost a year older than him, he had lived about 2 miles away from Jamie. Jamie had recalled his cousin telling him he got a letter from the local gang called the Alpha’s, saying that they wanted him to join them, but Miguel refused.

This sent Jamie’s entire family into panic. Especially, two days later, when Angela got a letter from the gang that said that they want her and Jamie to join their group, and they had six days to do so. Their fathers would not allow it, so the entire family pitched in to get 30,000 Guatemalan dollars, which equals to almost 2,000 U.S. dollars. Their family sold everything they could. They sold their TV, couch, beds, and basically everything. Jamie and Angela were shocked. They had never imagined that much money being given to them. Angela’s mother even sewed all of the money into their blue jeans, so they would not get robbed. On the morning of the sixth day they set off.

My favorite characters in this book are Jamie and Angela because they are very daring and brave. The reason I think this is because they have to leave their home and walk from Guatemala to Texas while being chased by crazy gangs like the Alpha’s, and they only have each other for company. I also like Jamie because he likes to draw, and I like how the author described how and what he drew.