Interesting. I'm wondering how young readers will deal with the intricate pacing and event sequencing in this one. Most of the books that I read/teach at this level work in pattern of, "Chapter 1: This happened, Chapter 2: Two days later this happened, Chapter 3: Three days later his happened," but Paulsen's book slows things down and the reader deals with many harrowing events occurring on just a few individual days spread across multiple chapters. Within this small temporal scale, the minute details of the protagonist's everyday life mix with the sometimes woozy imagery of Juarez as seen through an adult alcoholic suffering from PTSD. I found the condensed time-frame and the imagery *pun alert* intoxicating, but I wonder if it will be lost on younger readers.

This book is about a boy named manny, who is a poor and doesn''t have a family and has to get food for himself. His goal is to cross a bridge so he can have a better shot at life. So when he makes a plan to cross. Along the way he makes a friend named Robert who is a soldier that has money. He gives him food and takes his to a bullring. A week later he see's him again and the soldier has to go fight in the war and it's Robert against four men. It was hard for him But in the end he kills them all and is about to die when Manny see's whats going on and Robert tells his friend Manny to take his wallet so that he can finally get across. I would only reccoomend this to a friend if thy can deal with sad things because the ending is very sad. A quote I liked is on page 114, Take it and run across and get the green card and live there, said by Robert. A hyperbole I found was when Manny says, the ridge is 1 million miles long and i'll never get past it.

I'm depressed

2.5 stars. This book was alright. Manny is a very poor boy who lives near the Texas/Mexican border and he decides that one day he is going to come to America. On the night he gets some food from a lady he knows and waits while a lot of people get caught going to American in the river. Some how Manny gets caught by four bad guys and they chase him (they want to sell him to someone because they are poor too). When Manny gets to an alley, he meets a guy who is puking his guts out because he is drunk, and tries to steal his wallet. The man doesn't tell the police and Manny doesn't cross the border. The second meeting Manny has with the man is when Manny finds him at a hotel and the man pays for his breakfast and then takes him to a bull fight (men run around and eventually kill a bull) for the first time. The many seems annoyed at Manny but he doesn't do anything. The third meeting, Manny and the man are doing something and then the guys come again. The man ends up dying and giving Manny his wallet to go over the border. Super quick read; not sure what grade level but easy read.

I enjoyed this somewhat sad book about a young, homeless, orphan named Manny who lives in the dangerous streets of Juarez, Mexico, and dreams of crossing into the United States. It was also about an army sergeant who has seen a lot of war and is scarred deeply by it and he comes to Juarez to drink and forget. This was another of my daughter’s assigned reading books. She didn’t enjoy it, but I thought it was good and provided an appreciation for the good life we take for granted.

I thought this book was interesting but some of the wording could have been a bit better but otherwise that the story had me hook, not right away but after the first few chapters, it had me captivated. I really enjoyed how much Manny had tried to cross with such ambition and yet struggled at the same time. The sergeant seemed so...lost...but he had a good reason. Being in so many wars and so many died, the only thing I don't agree with is how he substituted the pain with alcohol yet I do suppose he didn't have a care. It made me so confused as to how he helped Manny even though he knew that Manny was a lier just to survive. I guess Robert didn't want another...dead? Then again, the sergeant is probably always too drunk to even notice if he is even in reality and that it all just might be a dream. Maybe...he wanted to die for somebody that was in need of help because he wanted to serve his responsibilities just like his many friends did for hundreds...

Synopsis: The Crossing by Gary Paulsen is a short novel that follows a street-savvy young orphan's desperate attempt to leave the tough streets of Juarez, Mexico for the more peaceful and promising streets of El Paso, Texas. Concurrently, the novel develops the story of a U.S. Army Sergeant suffering from PTSD, as a result of his service in Vietnam. The path of these unlikey compatriots eventually cross in this exciting and suspenseful story of human survival.
Themes/Curriculum Connections: Immigration; PTSD; Vietnam War veterans; coming of age; orphans.
Age/Grade Recommendation: Middle to early high school

Good book about a young boy's survival, and his quest for a better life. Should he stay where he is and merely survive, or should he attempt "the crossing", knowing it couild very well mean death. Can he escape the wolves who snatch and sell young boys? Read and find out.

I am going to go against the tide of the overall reviews here and suggest that this was too mature for most youths, and it's too simplistic for older readers.

Manny is an illiterate street urchin in Mexico and he dreams of making it to America where he can get a job, buy a shirt with shiny buttons, and put a roof over his head. He knows he needs some food and money to make it through the crossing. He knows he cannot trust the coyotes to take him, because they sometimes take everyone's money, rape the women, and kill them. But he can't stay in Mexico either because of the hawks, gangs of teens hoodlums who kidnap street kids and sell them to men who like boys.

Now, the first time this hawk matter was referenced in the book, I thought to myself, hmmm, maybe my kid will sorta gloss over that, figuring that it just refers to plain ol' kidnapping, which is of course understood by even the youngest readers to be bad. But this sexual threat keeps coming up, again, and again, and again, AND again, to the point where I started keeping count and I think I noticed five distinct references to it. I don't know what the appropriate age or grade for learning about forced sodomy is, but I'm guessing it's a minimum of 8th grade. The edition I read had no age recommendations anywhere inside or out, and it looks like every other book intended for a 4th grade reading level. The cover's description did not mention the mature content. The picture on the cover of the edition I read depicts a boy about age 10 or less, but definitely not a teenager.

Manny sees a way out with the unlikeliest of saviors, the troubled gringo veteran. Great plan, Paulsen: Tell the unprotected kids of the world that they are safe with a foreign, single man who has waking delusions and self-medicates his visions away!

In an adult context, a mature discussion about problems facing our veterans with PTSD is always welcome. But this book, written in 1987 and referring back to problems originating in the Vietnam conflict, simply comes across as an ABC Movie of the Week from 1973. The troubled veteran stereotype used as a plot prop needs to be retired as much as the limp-wristed coward, the man-hating lesbian, and the undereducated negro have disappeared from books and movies you would even consider entertaining your children with. And this character isn't just a little troubled. No, he has visions of the dead, visions that can only be dispersed by drinking large quantities of hard liquor in Juarez titty bars until he experiences a blackout.

Paulsen did some homework. His description of life south of the border is compelling, and he was using terms like 'coyote' before it became part of our northern national lingo. His description of the utter uselessness of the bullfight was spot-on perfect, speaking as someone who was appalled the first and last time they saw one of those bloody spectacles. There is a half-decent story here, with the dying soldier sacrificing himself for the kid, and managing to give the kid just enough resources to make it to a better place.

But when you add up a couple factors here, the adult content of the sexual threat to the boy, and the not particularly adult treatment of the veteran, this ends up being a book for nobody. Kids need time to be kids, and this book isn't appropriate for its targeted age group.

This book had a amazing twist at the end and is was really good but kinda sad.
I reccomand this book to people that has ever been in the same position as the boy.

Fourteen-year-old Manny Bustos has had enough of living on the streets of Juarez, and has decided to cross the river to Texas. After his first failed attempt, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with an army sergeant trying to escape the ghosts of Vietnam. For the first time, Manny finds someone he can trust, and the sergeant finds a reason to live.

I read this book in a day. It is brief, written in a simple but beautiful style. Paulsen is a master of voice. The point of view alternates between Manny and Robert. Both are flawed but highly sympathetic, and their cautious, gentle relationship was the crux of the story, bringing unexpected healing to both of them. I really enjoyed this book. The one negative for me was the abrupt, open-ended conclusion, but that is common in Paulsen's novels.

The crossing is about a fourteen year old orphan named Manny Bustos who lives on the streets of Mexico. Manny is poor and wants to jump the border to the United States to find work and make a better life for himself. His way of making money is begging and catching the coins the tourists throw off the bridge. Manny meets a Sergeant named Robert S Locke, they later become friends. Both Manny and the Sergeant have problems and this gives them a friendship.
The book is very sad and would of been better if it had a more positive ending. I would read the book again simply because the book didn’t take long to read and the story was long for its size. The book shows the bad of some parts of the world and certain problems that people deal with. The crossing shows a bad part of Mexico and shows the lives of the people that live there. Although this book is good it contains a good amount of adult content. Therefore should not be read by younger kids.
I recommend this book to someone who wants a quick read. I would rate it 5/5 and read it again. This book does contain content that isn't ideal for a younger reader. It definitely has a dark theme going with it. I think the bad things mentioned in the book give it more of a reality check to the story. Read this book if you wanna learn some of the struggles in Mexico.