The Border Between Us

Starred review from August 1, 2024
Ruiz (Valley of Shadows, 2022) is back with a flawed yet plucky hero in this realistic and heartfelt coming-of-age tale about Ram�n Lopez, an ambitious Mexican American boy with big dreams. At a young age, Ram�n regularly traverses the border that separates Mexico and Brownsville, Texas (where the author was born) to accompany his hardworking father on errands for his U.S.-based tire-retreading business. He sees the poverty in Mexico and his dad's never-ending financial struggles as reminders that pursuing success is everything. Unable to keep up with medical bills for Ram�n's disabled brother and cash-flow issues from failed businesses, the Lopez family moves to Matamoros, Mexico. Ram�n, however, stays in Texas with his abuela, where he excels in still-life painting. Going back and forth across the border to spend weekends with his family in Mexico, the dispirited Ram�n is forcibly recruited to smuggle drugs. His dad intervenes and reluctantly allows Ram�n to enroll in a New York art school, where he meets Clara, a wealthy white girl with influential art world connections. A life-changing event compels Ram�n to ultimately recalibrate his vision of success. Ruiz has written a poignant tale about an endearing underdog's pursuit of the American Dream.

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September 1, 2024
A Mexican American aspiring artist pursues his dream despite harsh political, geographic, and familial realities. In 1977, 9-year-old Ram�n Lopez, born in the U.S. near the border with Mexico, dreams of an adult life in New York City as a celebrated artist. His family's fraught dynamics serve as both an inspiration and a roadblock to his pursuit. His father sells tires and covertly transports undocumented Mexican immigrants, including children and babies, across the border by hiding them beneath the tires he carts every day. Ram�n's newborn brother is developmentally disabled. With an abundance of care and incisiveness, the novel charts Ram�n's journey and inner turmoil. Ruiz's prose is lively, and his insights into daily life at the border are authoritative: "Beggars lined the street, shambling in grimy rags, shaking rusted cups jingling with loose change. Cars snaked towards the crossing. The queue would swell throughout the day. At the right instant, crossing could take merely five minutes, but during busy times it might consume an hour. Radiators would rebel. Steam would hiss. Tempers would flare....What did the innocent know about immigration officials and drug-sniffing German Shepherds salivating over the slope of the bridge? What did the baby comprehend about being discreet while breaking the law?" Ruiz is examining timely issues while remaining focused on the humanity of the immigrants, their desperation and desires. Seeing Ram�n's creative aspirations as representative of the immigrant border crossing, his father tells him, "You have to stick with it. And here, unlike south of the river, you have a chance to make it. That's why we're here. That's why it's called the American Dream, not the Mexican Dream." A moving story of one family's toil amid a cultural struggle, told with precision and authenticity.

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