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Journey of the Sparrows

fran leeper buss daisy cubias

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Nailed into a crate in the back of a truck, fifteen-year-old Maria, her older sister, Julia, their little brother, Oscar, and a boy named Tomas endure a terrifying and torturous journey across the U.S. border and then north to Chicago. There they struggle to find work-cleaning, sewing, washing dishes-always fearful of arrest and deportation back to the cruelties of El Salvador. By turns heartbreaking and hopeful, this moving story of the secret lives of immigrants is not to be missed.

A gripping, lyrical portrayal of a continuing American dilemma." ( Kirkus Reviews , pointer review)

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 30,1991
Literary awards
jane addams childrens book award, 

This edition

Format
160 pages, Paperback
Published
December 30, 2002 by Puffin Books
ISBN
9780142302095
ASIN
0142302090
Language
English

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About the author

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fran leeper buss

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Fran Leeper Buss was an American oral historian, ordained minister, author, teacher, social worker, photographer, and feminist. She dedicated her career to documenting the lives of marginalized women in the United States through oral history.
Born Francis Barker in Manchester, Iowa, she spent much of her childhood in Dubuque. She earned a teaching degree from the University of Iowa in 1964, a Master of Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology, and a Ph.D. in 20th-century American history from the University of Arizona in 1995.
In 1971, she co-founded the Women's Crisis and Information Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. She later served as a minister alongside her husband, David Buss, in the Campus/Community Ministry in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where she was ordained in 1976. She also taught women's studies at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, and the University of Arizona.
Buss spent over four decades collecting the stories of women facing economic and social struggles. Her first oral history project was with Jesusita Aragon, a traditional midwife, whose life story she published as La Partera: Story of a Midwife (1980). She continued her work by traveling across the country, documenting the lives of lower-income women, leading to books such as Dignity: Lower Income Women Tell of Their Lives and Struggles (1985), Forged under the Sun: The Life of Maria Elena Lucas (1993), and Moisture of the Earth: Mary Robinson, Civil Rights and Textile Union Activist (2009).
In 1991, she published the young adult novel Journey of the Sparrows, which depicts the experiences of undocumented Latin American migrants in the U.S. The book has been translated into multiple languages, adapted into a play, and won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award in 1992.
Later in her career, she reflected on her decades of oral history work in Memory, Meaning, and Resistance: Reflecting on Oral History and Women at the Margins (2017). The original transcripts of her interviews, along with her research materials, are housed at Harvard University's Schlesinger Library.
Buss received the first annual Catherine Prelinger Prize in 1998 for her contributions to women's history and was recognized by the American Library Association in 2018 for her academic work.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 50 votes)
5 stars
13(26%)
4 stars
25(50%)
3 stars
12(24%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
50 reviews All reviews
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domodoggie
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Hard to read because the lives of children fleeing El Salvador via Mexico to the US are dangerous, sorrowful and stark. But while realistic, the story is also hopeful and beautifully told and the characters are sympathetic and round. Worth reading for the inside look at this side of life most of us know little about. The specific terrors women faced are mentioned though not described outright, so parents of younger readers might want to screen and/or discuss.
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FiddlePie
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Nailed into a vegetable crate, Maria and her siblings (Julia, and Oscar) are shipped to America to be free from the harsh conditions in their hometown, El Salvador. They struggle to find jobs, and food, and Julia is pregnant. They find jobs, and food but are very fearful of being caught and deported back to El Salvador. Maria sees things in America in a beautiful, and crucial way. She describes the conditions of Chicago, the people, and home she lives in. I liked, but didn't love this book. I thought it was descriptive, but over-done. I recommend this book to people ages 11, and up who are looking for a descriptive insight on the American Dream.
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Irwanda04
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This was such a depressing but powerful book. I'm glad I read it, but I don't see myself reading it again.
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Tyrannyy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book is a great multi-cultural resource for the classroom. The book traces the struggles of Maria, a 15 year old from El Salvador, her older sister Julia, and younger brother Oscar. The three children are the only family members to escape the US backed war ravaging their country. Coming to Chicago nailed in crates, their journey to survive in America is often heart breaking, but never hopeless. This book would be an immense help to ESL Spanish speaking students, since they may have a cultural basis to relate to the book(language, life experiences as immigrants/migrant workers/experiences as non English speakers/similar religious beliefs/similar family ethics etc). Younger readers could explore elements of plot, characterization or basic symbolism (sparrow and quetzal birds). Older readers could discuss social dynamics or maybe political elements (US immigration policy, US support during El Salvador's Civil War, the brief mention of the Black Panther Party etc). It's a great classroom resource!
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SupMichael
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book was very amazing because it gave me an idea about what is happening. I mean what happened in the book is still happening in real life.
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DionaeaMuscipula
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book could not hold my attention span for long. Don't call me heartless, because I have done missions in mexico for years. Most people who like this book are probably just pretending to care for their social image. (Be honest. You are.) It is in no way a bad book, it has some great ideas behind it, but it is just executed in a mediocre fashion.
What is it:
A historical fiction feel-good about illegal immigration.
Who wrote it:
Fran Leeper Buss
Negatives:
I know this is nitpicking, but if the woman on the cover is an illegal immigrant, why does she have so much makeup on? Maybe it's the quetzal lady? But
The quetzal lady is homeless! Second off, it is called journey of the sparrows, but it does not talk about the journey to america. It goes on and on about the
characters home in el salvador, and america, but never the journey! The characters met a kid named tomas and stayed in mexico. That's so important but it never talks about this. For such a bold choice to have a young adult book be about the real world the tone... how do I explain it... does nothing. Every
other chapter they talk about mary the mother of jesus. I understand that the characters are catholic and I don't hate catholics, but it gets annoying.

Positives:
Despite not going into detail about mexico, one of the book's strongest points is it's character development. It is very realistic and portays illegal immigration very well. Despite seeing the ending coming, there were some touching moments in the last chapter. I know that at first glance this doesn't look like much when compared to the negatives, but in the end it counts for a lot.
Verdict:
I would have given this book 3 stars, but goodreads would have labeled predictable feel goods as suggestions. Yeesh. For all it's heart, realisticness and novel ideas for young adult literature, it lacks a lot of the freshness that make feel-goods like mary poppins and the sound of music what they are. It ignores whole parts of people's lives and hammers home certain things to the point of annoyance.
Grade
C+
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sickafterfive
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I only read the first third, maybe, but the first chapter (the actual immigration journey) was riveting. I hope to excerpt that chapter for our immigration unit. The rest gets a bit mature - Coby also loved the first chapter but thought that parts of the rest were inappropriate.
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