Into the Beautiful North
by
Luis Alberto Urrea
Adult novel set in contemporary Mexico and U. S. A.
The people of Tres Camarones, Mexico look around one day and realize that almost every last one of their men ages 16-60 have left for America to find work (one lonely homosexual and one mentally-challenged man are left). Without men to protect the village, the drug dealers are starting to circle. The women think that their village is lovely and their way of life is worth saving. Inspired by Steve McQueen and Yul Brenner in The Magnificent Seven, they decide that they must send a delegation to America to bring back 7 men. They need men who will fight for their town, preferably soldiers and policemen. They hope these men will then stay and repopulate their village.
With the blessing of the village elder (elderess?) a group of young people head north to the border on this Mission from God. This is a humorous book filled with movie quotes and popular culture references.
I wish the author would have included a map of Mexico showing where the villagers started so I could better understand their journey. Where is Sinaloa anyway? If I were leading a book discussion on this book I would want to have this information available.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mapa_Mexico_2010.PNG
