MIA – Hi, my name is Mia Mendez and I’m 13 years old and I’m from Cimarron, Kansas. I recently read the book Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P Dobbs and her second book continuing on to that story The Other Side of the River.
KMH – Did you read those for school or you just read them?
MIA – The first book I read for school. We read it as a class and the second book, I started reading that one on my own.
KMH – Just this summer? What were the stories about?
MIA – The first book is about Petra Luna, a 12 year old girl who is in Mexico with her family and her dad and her cousin get taken away to fight in the war and so she takes hr grandma and her little sister and her little brother and they all are on a journey to get to America. That’s in the first book. In the second book, it is more about the journey on the other side in America and it is about striving and learning how to live and adjusting to the new place. When they first came to the U.S. they were living in a refugee camp with other people who has just crossed the river. Then they took a train to San Antonio and that’s where they were throughout the book.
KMH – Do you know if this story is the story of the author’s life?
MIA – The story is of the author’s grandma.
kMH – Was that your favorite character or was Petra Luna?
MIA – My favorite character was the little sister. I really liked her. I could see my little sister in her a lot. Laughter . .
KMH – How old was Petra Luna in the story?
MIA – She was 12.
KMH – Can you imagine going through that?
MIA – I can’t! After reading the book it was so difficult to believe that she was so young and taking care of her family already at that age.
KMH – What about you, Mom? Did you read the books?
AM – Yeah, I read both books—more slow than Mia, of course.
AM – My name is Acela Mendez and, yeah, I read both books. The first one, I will say we cry a couple times and I will say that one is very emotional. I think in my case, it is because I more related with the grandma. You know, sometimes when you think the hard part is crossing the river, but then actually after that, it is hard to learn about the language. When my husband and me came here the first, we don’t know any English.
I will be honest, if 18 years ago, somebody had told me you will record in English about an English book, I will not believe! [laughter] I struggled to talk with everybody at that time! It was hard to adapt to the culture, to the language, to everything. You kind of have to start again, but a little older and that makes it a little hard. We crossed with just our boys and they both born in Texas and then we live in Texas for four months and then moved to Kansas and our girls were born here. So, we have four kids.
KMH So you really related to the grandmother and Mia, you really liked the little sister. Is it a story you think other people would benefit from reading?
AM – Yes. I am pretty positive people can see . . .I mean sometimes, it makes you feel better when you know you are not the only one. When you see people can do things – motivated you; encouraged you to say, “I can do it, too. I can take my family up. “ All these things that motivated you to keep going. With that, I don’t mean that it will be easy, but in Mexico, it is not easy, too, so if you see that way . . . The only thing I know for sure is a sacrifice is when you can’t see your family or you can’t be by them when it is important dates, but after that, I will say, it’s an adaptation. It is a new life than you are looking here.
KMH and you got a lot of that from these two books?
AM – Yes, these two books are like, “Oh, with me . . .maybe it was not that bad.” That little girls at 12 years old something I did at my 20s, something. For me, it was hard. I can’t imagine for a 12 year old girl. I think books help everybody to understand a little more how immigrant life can be. I mean help for people Hispanic to understand that and I think for the whites to understand a little bit more. .
KMH – We are here in Cimarron and the trucks are going by – the daily life of Cimarron outside the door, so sometimes you are going to hear trucks or semis . . . Mia, would you recommend the book?
Mia – I would say the book is really eye-opening to what is going on, to see what their grandparents or maybe even great grandparents have gone through. To understand that there is struggle going on and maybe just to know more about that. It is important to know about that.
