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Paradise Travel.
Franco, Jorge (author).
Jan. 2006. 240p. Farrar, hardcover, $23 (0-374-22977-5).
REVIEW.
First published December 15, 2005 (Booklist).
In this tale of Marlon Cruz, Franco (Rosario Tijeras) provides a glimpse of a substratum of society: the undocumented, divided from most of the rest of us by language, economics, and class. Love motivates Marlon to leave his home of Medellin, Colombia, instead of going to university; he has the hots for Reina, the girl all the boys are sniffing around, and Reina wants to go to New York. Since neither Reina nor Marlon qualify for a visa, they pay thousands of dollars (Reina steals it from Marlon’s aunt’s honeymoon savings) to Paradise Travel to smuggle them into the States. But soon after arriving in Queens, Marlon goes out for a smoke and becomes lost, unable to find his way back to Reina. Patricia, a restaurant owner’s wife, literally saves his life, and Milagros, a waiter’s friend, offers him love, while Marlon struggles for sustenance and searches for Reina. With Franco’s nimble prose, full-bodied characters, and portrayals of the undocumenteds’ travel and living conditions, ranging from near horrific to humorous, this is something special. — Michele Leber
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