To the Other Side by Erika Meza

También de este lado hay sueños
"There are dreams on this side too."

A big sister tells her younger sibling they are playing a game. The pair, and all their 'friends' don masks and they set off careful to avoid the monsters and knowing it is vital that they are not caught.

"She promised the masks would hide us. Make us fast. Make us brave. It's like tag. If the monsters catch you, you're out. 'We win the game when we cross the line.' Everyone was racing to see who could get there faster."

So where are these kids going? And why? And who are the monsters?

"We thought hard of what we might win. 'A home!' 'A really big school!' 'A spotty dog!' "A pair of shiny red shoes."

Take a look at this list - a home? This might be your first hint something bigger and way more serious is going on here. And in the illustrations, we see the children and others are running and then they are on a bus, a raft and train. But they are not riding in the train they are on the roof. This is another hint about the real reason for this 'game'. 

"This isn't a game ... is it?' I asked."

Finally you reach the last page - which contains the back matter for this story:

"There are currently 13 million child refugees in the world. Every year tens of thousands of children leave their homes, sometimes with their families, and sometimes alone, in search of a safter place to live."

Now go back and notice tiny details in the illustrations: the boy's mask eyes can close but his sister's eyes are always wide open. There are bars everywhere (anticipating immigration detention) even the game of hopscotch ends in a chalk set of bars that looks suspiciously like the US flag. The village they leave (flee) is on fire. There are black, evil looking figures watching them the whole way. The children only have their small backpacks. As they jump off the train, it turns into a monster. 

I was chilled to see crosses drawn on the wall and you can see the words written on the wall at the top of this post. This journey is truly one of life and death. And on the final pages, even though they have reached safety and have a new life, the sister still holds onto her mask. And there is a whole discussion that needs to be had about the colour choices and use colour in this book. 

This is one of the most interesting picture books I have read in a long time. As an adult reader it is clear this book is dealing with a devasting journey and deep themes of the plight of refugees and border crossings especially from Mexico into the US.  Betsy Bird said: I don’t know how this book got made. I mean, I know the rudimentary basics behind it. I know how an author would write out a proposal and, if they were also an artist, draw some sketches. What I don’t know is how a person can look at a topic as impossible to encapsulate as child migrants moving across the U.S.-Mexico border and then know how to write a picture book on the subject.... when I read To the Other Side by Erika Meza, I was floored. With care and invention, she’s actually managed to tell a migrant story that is both literal and figurative, realistic and metaphorical, and does so with honesty and more than a bit of cleverness.

A gorgeously rendered, heartbreaking look at one family’s immigration experience. Kirkus Kirkus Star review

To The Other Side, written and illustrated by Erika Meza, is an allegorical picture book that gently addresses child and family migration with compassion and empathy. Meza skillfully balances the challenging aspects of the immigrant experience, presenting it as an adventure or game, while acknowledging the emotional complexity behind colorful masks worn by the kids on this journey. Common Sense Media

Yes, this particular story is of crossing from Mexico to the U.S. but with more and more asylum-seeking children from various parts of the world being welcomed into homes and schools in the UK, this book is highly relevant here and wherever else there are immigrants. Strongly recommended for sharing in primary schools to open up discussion. Books for Keeps

Awards:

• Shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2024
• Shortlisted for the Jhalak Children's & Young Adult Prize 2024
• Empathy Collection title
• 2024 Inclusive Books for Children

I would share To the Other Side with older primary students aged 10+ and it would be a perfect text for a High School class. There is sure to be a lot of discussion with the group about the story and themes of this book. This is not a book to read and discard. It is a book that needs careful reading and deep thought. The copy I borrowed from a school library is not shelved with their picture books - it is in the non-fiction [325] which is the Dewey number for International Migration. Decisions like this are important and must be based around your library users (staff and students). In my former school, for example, I had a shelving bay with Picture Books for Older readers (Grade 5 and 6) which is where I would place this book.

About the author: Erika Meza was born in Mexico and developed a taste for eclairs in Paris before moving to the UK to teach drawing. She won a scholarship to study in L'Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs, where she learned to combine bold colour and mark-making with poetry.

Companion books:

Read more about each of these books about crossing the border from Mexico to the US

Above all else, these stories showcase the humanity of the people who risk everything to seek refuge in the United States. More than providing insight into someone else’s reality, in these stories immigrant children can also see their own stories reflected back at them—

stories of fortitude, resilience, joy, and sorrow.

Read more here.

Kirkus Star review

Please take a minute to watch this video of Erika Meza talking about her book. In this radio interview Erika talks about her use of masks in this book. 

Here are other books by Erika Meza:

By chance today I was talking to a friend and she mentioned a former student from my previous school. Take a look at this article written by lawyer and journalist Claire McMullen about the plight of families trying to cross the border from Guatemala into the US. I was thrilled to see her success as a lawyer and journalist and impressed a school kid from suburban Australia is tackling big topics just like the one covered in this book. 

A Great Escape by Felice Arena

The setting for A Great Escape is Berlin during the cold war just as the wall is going up and East and West are divided. The story begins on the day of the division. Barbed wire is put up all over the city and citizens are no longer allowed to travel between the two parts of the city. Peter has been left behind with his grandparents while his parents and sister are now on the other side.

Peter's whole focus is now on escape. He tries asking at the checkpoint but he is chased away. He sees a young couple who try to escape over the wall at the back of a cemetery. The young girl makes it over but her fiance is captured. Peter knows he cannot escape this way.

Now Peter is even more determined to leave. At midnight he quietly leaves the house he shares with his Oma and invalid Opa. He thinks he can swim across to the West but just as he is about to jump in the river he sees another young man with the same idea. He watches in horror as this man is shot by police who have quickly arrived in a patrol boat.

Things are very quiet on the East side of the wall. So quiet Peter notices every movement. A flock of pigeons wheel overhead. Peter follows them to the roof of a building. This building straddles the wall with half in the east and half in the west and it is set to be demolished. The pigeons he saw are homing pigeons and they are in the care of Otto, an apprentice carpenter, who has been forced to work on building the wall. Otto has a plan to fly to the West but he needs materials so he makes a promise to Peter that he can fly too.

The aspect of this book that I really appreciated, oddly, was the selfishness of Peter. Early on we meet Oma and Opa and it is easy to see they are struggling. Opa can no longer talk and needs assistance with every aspect of daily life. Now that Peter's parents are gone how will these elderly people get enough money for food? Peter, surely has to take some responsibility to help them. He is so fixed on leaving he cannot see that he actually needs to stay.  I don't want to spoil the story but during the final scenes I did let out a huge sigh of relief.

A Great escape is the third book in a series by Felice Arena which focus on bravery and war time from the point of view of a young protagonist. The first was The Boy and and Spy set in Italy during WWII and the second Fearless Frederic set during the Paris floods of 1910.  I think A Great Escape is the best one so far. I highly recommend this book for all young history fans. It is easy to read (only 156 pages) and the pace of the action means you just gallop through the story just as Peter himself races around Berlin desperate to escape and desperate to avoid capture. I read this whole book in one sitting. Perfect for age 9+. I was lucky to have an advance copy from my local bookshop.  I read this book in January. This book will be published in early March 2019. I would follow A Great Escape with Oranges in No Man's Land by Elizabeth Laird and Honey Cake by Joan Betty Stuckner.