Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. His cousin/Miguel (Chapter 1)

2. New Mexico (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. The gang wants Jaime and Ángela to deal drugs at their school. (Chapter 2)

2. She suggests that they try to offer the gang money for the cousins’ freedom, but the family does not want to give the gang who killed Miguel money and worries that the plan will not work, in any case. (Chapters 1-3)

3. She sews $2,000 into the seams of their pants so that they will have hidden money that they can use to pay smugglers to help them cross the border. (Chapters 1-3)

Chapters 4-7

Reading Check

1. Mexico (Chapter 4)

2. Draw/sketch (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. The bus tickets cost the equivalent of a little more than a day’s wages. This makes them realize that their trip north will be very expensive. (Chapter 5)

2. Ángela knows that they might get separated on their journey, so she makes Jaime memorize Tomás’s phone number in New Mexico. (Chapters 5)

3. The graffiti that the cousins see makes it clear that some Mexicans resent the presence of Central American refugees.