Sonia Nazario’s book Enrique’s Journey follows a young man on his journey from the Honduras to the United States in search of his mother, who left when he was only five years old, in hopes of providing a better life for her children. Throughout the novel, Nazario recounts the struggles that Enrique faced along the way, both physical and mental. Enrique made eight attempts to get to the United States, enduring several beatings, days without food, fear of corrupt local authorities, and the perils of riding aboard a dangerous train for hundreds of miles. In the end, he must overcome these obstacles, as well as his own vices and internal struggles, to finally see his mother. On many of Enrique’s attempts, he rides atop trains and forms alliances with potentially dangerous gang members to avoid beatings by other criminals. Despite these friendships, Enrique is still beaten so badly on one trip that it leaves him with permanent physical damage to his face. However, the book also tells of dozens of other migrants who are mutilated or killed in train accidents, raped by coyotes or gangs, or robbed, beaten, and left for dead. In addition to these perils, many migrants drown or die from dehydration or asphyxiation during segments of the trip. Many migrants refer to the train as “El Gusano de Hierro” (The Iron Worm) and “El Tren de la Muerte” (The Train of Death) (Nazario, p. 71). These nicknames highlight the great dangers and the frequency of deaths posed by the trains. In the