Manny was a kid living in Mexico. He suffered from poverty like many other people. One day manny decides to cross the border to the United States of America . He knows he needs money so he goes under the bridge to get money. under the bridge is where people from the United States throw money to poor people who live under the bridge.In this book manny faces many dangers on his journey.
Over all I would recommend this book to anyone no matter who you are you will like this book. This book is very very entertaining and has a lot if suspense because you never know what can happens next. This is why I really enjoy this book. So if you get a chance to read this book read it don't lose your chance it's worth it.

The book was pretty good. My big surprise was finding out that Manny, described as the main character, wasn't very interesting. Instead a character not mentioned was everything an MC should be.

Full review at ReadingOverTheShoulder.com

The Crossing
Gary Paulsen
This is about a homeless boy name Manny Bustos who lives on the street in Mexico but has a dream of living in America. After begging for food from behind a restaurant and trying to catch money under a bridge while Americans drop it, he goes back to where he sleeps outside a club and meet Robert Locke an American sergeant who is an alcoholic because he’s seen too many friend die in war and drinks it away. After one night Robert is gone, he’s brain dead and many tries to steal his wallet and is caught getting dragged to the wash where many fishes for money. Manny meets Robert time after time and finely forms a bond with Manny and buys him lots of thing such as food. Toward the end Robert dies and gives Manny his wallet so he can cross the border to America.
My favorite part is when Manny is finally able to get to America.
My least favorite part is when Manny is beat by bigger kids when he catches a dollar bill which is a lot for homeless kids in Mexico
I enjoyed the book because it shows sort of how life is rough in Mexico and the book went by fast for me.
I would recommend this to a friend because it is a good book.

No stars because I do not think this book is suitable for kids, at least not anyone under 16.

This book was a bit hard for me to get into even though I wanted to read it. It was my first Gary Paulsen book and he has a very uniquely straightforward and brutally honest way of writing. Having said that, the book is pretty good and he really does show that life is like for a teenager on the other side of the border. I think this is a great book for teens to read -- especially Mexican-Americans -- so that they can better see and understand how different life is for kids in Mexico (and in other poor countries). I could see it being a good lit circle book because it would definitely spur a lot of discussion.

I bought this book with the intent of putting it in my classroom library but I don't think too many of my sixth graders will be able to grasp this subject matter.

I really did enjoy this book for two main reasons. The first being that it is based on true facts. The second reason being that two totally different types and classes of people connect, understand each other, and have a true friendship. I really like how the book ends. It is kind of a cliff hanger but also a really great and inspirational ending.

Easy read, I found it in my classroom left by teachers past. I liked it. It’s great for kids to think about what they take for granted and a good story for many of them who have no idea what kids on the other side of the border go through.

3.5 stars.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It is raw and realistic for the life of each of the main characters. Some of the plot and setting is not for the faint of heart, but even with the inclusion of over-indulgence in alcohol, seedy bars with nude female dancers, references to child slavery, and death it is still less than many middle school students experience daily or are exposed to in video games or on television/movies. It is recommended for 11-15 year olds and I initially began reading it so I could include it as a possible literature circle book for my seventh grade students. I finished it because I enjoyed the book. I will include it in my classroom, but will also make the extra effort to inform students and parents of what the book includes prior to the reading.

I read this book for book for book clubs and enjoyed it way more than i figured I would. This book is so good because it is back and forth between two different people the whole story and it is a great read. there are lots of great themes in this book that are really important to the context of the book. overall I rated the book a 4 out of 5 stars only because of some of the different language witch made it harder to read. This is a great book with a very surprise ending.

It was boring through out the book

I was curious about this book, it was in my school library. I now about Hatchet and it's another book that I still haven't read completely. This book was not what I expected (being in an elementary campus library) anyway it was hard to finish because I didn't know or want to know how Manny's life would end up. I hoped for the best and got surprised in the end.. I must say it was meant to be and very profound on how life comes full-circle.

Dreadful little book with choppy prose. Felt like a drawn out short story. Had a few powerful descriptions and some nice parallelism, but still dreadful. Did manage to read it in one sitting, so there's that.