WE ARE NOT FROM HERE

Narrator Marisa Blake portrays the cruelty and menace of Rey, a gang leader in Guatemala. Blake’s depiction of the terror he evokes in three teens who flee him is heartbreaking. The story is told in alternating chapters by Pequena and Pulga. Pequena was raped by Rey and bore a son she can’t stand to care for. Her cousin, Pulga, and his best friend, Chico, witnessed Rey murder a convenience store owner, and Rey threatens them into acts of violence. Feeling trapped by their circumstances, the three decide to escape to America via La Bestia, a train named by refugees who know its power to claim limbs or lives. Blake captures the fast-moving plot, taut emotions, and musicality of this story’s interwoven Spanish words and phrases. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2020]