The Book of Rosy: A Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border

This disturbing and unforgettable memoir follows the path of Guatemalan mother Pablo Cruz, who fled to the U.S. in 2018 with her two sons after her husband is murdered, she herself is shot, and her oldest son is threatened by criminals. Writing with Schwietert Collazo, who initiated the Immigrant Families Together grassroots organization to aid mothers detained at the U.S. border, Pablo Cruz narrates her agonizing eight-day journey to the border crammed in a truck with other refugees and her 81 days in a cell after being separated by ICE agents from her boys (ages five and 15). In the months without her boys, who are placed in foster care in the Bronx while she remains in Arizona, Pablo Cruz paints a heartbreaking picture of the many incarcerated mothers who spend hours weeping and praying together. A devout evangelical Christian, Pablo Cruz draws upon her faith to see her through the desolation and despair, and eventually her prayers are answered by a group of angry, “bad-ass ladies” from Immigrant Families Together who raise a $12,000 bond for her release. This wrenching story brings to vivid life the plight of the many families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. (June)