The Book of Rosy: A Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border
Written by Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schwietert Collazo
Narrated by Almarie Guerra and Jayme Mattler
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
“Offers hope in the face of desperate odds” – ELLE Magazine, ELLE’s Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2020
“[D]isturbing and unforgettable memoir…This wrenching story brings to vivid life the plight of the many families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.” – Publisher’s Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[The] haunting and eloquent…narrative of a Guatemalan woman's desperate search for a better life."" -Kirkus, STARRED Review
Compelling and urgently important, The Book of Rosy is the unforgettable story of one brave mother and her fight to save her family.
When Rosayra “Rosy” Pablo Cruz made the agonizing decision to seek asylum in the United States with two of her children, she knew the journey would be arduous, dangerous, and quite possibly deadly. But she had no choice: violence—from gangs, from crime, from spiraling chaos—was making daily life hell. Rosy knew her family’s one chance at survival was to flee Guatemala and go north.
After a brutal journey that left them dehydrated, exhausted, and nearly starved, Rosy and her two little boys arrived at the Arizona border. Almost immediately they were seized and forcibly separated by government officials under the Department of Homeland Security’s new “zero tolerance” policy. To her horror Rosy discovered that her flight to safety had only just begun.
In The Book of Rosy, with an unprecedented level of sharp detail and soulful intimacy, Rosy tells her story, aided by Julie Schwietert Collazo, founder of Immigrant Families Together, the grassroots organization that reunites mothers and children. She reveals the cruelty of the detention facilities, the excruciating pain of feeling her children ripped from her arms, the abiding faith that staved off despair—and the enduring friendship with Julie, which helped her navigate the darkness and the bottomless Orwellian bureaucracy.
A gripping account of the human cost of inhumane policies, The Book of Rosy is also a paean to the unbreakable will of people united by true love, a sense of justice, and hope for a better future.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Editor's Note
Digs deeper than the headlines…
A gutrenching, timely story that digs deeper than the headlines. Rosayra “Rosy” Cruz shares her deeply personal story of fleeing a gang-ridden part of Guatemala with the goal of reaching the United States to provide a better life for her family. Arriving at the Arizona border is anything but a happy ending when Rosy is separated from her children, detained, and faced with the daunting task of navigating the Kafkaesque immigration system.
Rosayra Pablo Cruz
Rosayra Pablo Cruz es madre de cuatro hijos. Era dueña de una pequeña tienda de ropa en Guatemala antes de llegar a los Estados Unidos. Ahora que vive en Nueva York, es la copresidenta de la Asociación de Padres y Maestros de su hijo mayor y está activa en su iglesia y comunidad.
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Reviews for The Book of Rosy
28 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A firsthand account of just how inhumane and despicable conditions are at the US/ Mexican border. Rosayra Pablo Cruz tells her harrowing story of the conditions that led her to flee Guatemala with two of her children and the consequences of her trying to file asylum in the United States. Having crossed the border once a few years prior Rosayra wasn't prepared for what awaited her this time, renewed anti-immigrant rhetoric flamed cruel policies that led to her being locked in a cold cell and separated from her boys. Thankfully an organization of moms, lawyers, and volunteers started working to pay the bail on this mothers in captivity and their efforts got Rosayra out and reunited with her boys. It's insane that this is happening right now in America but it's inspiring to see that people are working against it. There is also a section in the back with useful ways for readers to get involved. This book is suggested for anyone who wants to know about migrants coming up from Central America and is a good first hand account for anyone that read American Dirt.