"También de este lado hay sueños. On this side, too, there are dreams. Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they'll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy--two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia's husband's tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia--trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed when they finish reading it. A page-turner filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page, it is a literary achievement."--

Mexicans, since national independence, have defined their challenges as problems or dimensions in their lives. They have faced these issues alone or with others through politics, security (the military, police, or even public health squads), religion, family, and popular groups. This unique reader collects documents—texts, visuals, videos, and sounds—from organizational reports, popular expressions, and ephemeral creations to express these concerns, reveal responses, and measure successes. They allow readers to consider and discuss how these documents enabled Mexicans to evaluate their history and culture from 1810 to the present. Offering a wide variety of materials that can be tailored to the needs of individual instructors, these rich sources will ​stimulate critical thinking and give students new insights and often surprising respect and understanding for the ways Mexicans have managed to find humor, even magic, in their lives.