Day of the Dead

A tense, no easy answers tale of illegal immigration. Alex and his much-absent photo-journalist Dad are on holiday in California attempting to forge some sort of bond. When Dad says he has to go away for a couple of days Alex resents being deserted again, hides in the truck and finds himself aiding Dad smuggling a family across the border for one of Dad’s photo-shoots. The appalling life in the Mexican townships, the religious observations (hence the title) and the bleakness of the desert are all well evoked and, although Alex and dad do forge a bond, we are left wondering if things have really improved for Cristina, Maria and Paco. Recommend it to competent Year 8s. Tell Mr Blunkett to put it on his list of ‘books for boys’.