Tell Me How This Ends: A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick

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Tell Me How It Ends evokes empathy as it educates. It is a vital contribution to the body of post-Trump work being published in early 2017.” -Katharine Solheim, Unabridged Bookstore With anger and lucidity, Luiselli depicts the nightmares these children are forced to flee in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, as well as the destructive ignorance and bigotry that awaits them in America. . . . With a beguiling mixture of compassion and intellectual rigor, she gives her readers the chance to look.” —Chicago Tribune Tell Me How It Ends is a slight book with a big impact. . . . It is long-form reporting, as well as a kind of memoir—and finally, in its coda, written after Trump’s election, it becomes a call to action.” —Financial Times So yes, the current crisis isn't current so much as ongoing. Luiselli's argument, based on her volunteer work as an intake interviewer, is that these kids are akin to war refugees, given what they are fleeing in their home countries. Not just poverty, but often gangs, rape, murder. M-13 and Barrio 18 in particular, with no recourse from their own government or police forces. Imagine that here. I adored this girl. She's been through a lot but stayed true to herself and always put everyone's feelings above her own. She has a huge heart and it's big enough to love both boys! Egh. What's a girl to do, when your heart and head are at odds???

The tension in the book was phenomenal. Even though the premise of the book isn't necessarily something new, the way it is written and the emotions behind the characters were authentic and so well done. I loved everything about this book. Everything. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down, and once it was over, I was depressed! In Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions Mexican author Valeria Luiselli assumes a role not only as a ‘resident alien’ or interpreter but, more importantly, as a storyteller. She relays the crisis of undocumented youth so we might examine their present struggles and link them to our own inexplicable past.” —Houston ChronicleIt's hard to believe this is a debut book. It reads with an effortless fluidity and the craftsmanship of a seasoned author. The characters and plot are complex and vivid. I was completely transported into their world and I felt all their emotions. It was well paced, disclosing its many layers slowly, as it drew me in further and further.

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions is at once a deft exposition on the injustices of immigration law, the long, bullying history of U.S.-Central American relations, and the obstacles and politics of translation.” —The Millions Jo Leevers grew up in London and has spent most of her career working on magazines, most recently writing features about homes and interiors for leading newspapers and magazines. This means she gets to visit people around the country and ask them about all the things in their homes. Some might call this a licence to be nosey…

She decides to go with the nice guy, Ryan. He is good and kind, and everything that she thinks she needs. Until she finds out that chemistry guy, Jude, is his brother. Compelling and urgent, Tell Me How It Ends gives a face and a name to the hundreds of thousands who have committed the innocent crime of geography: being born in a certain time and place. The bureaucratic labyrinth of immigration, the dangers of searching for a better life, all of this and more is contained in this brief and profound work. Tell Me How It Ends is not just relevant, it’s essential.” —Mark Haber, Brazos Bookstore Valeria Luiselli’s extended essay on her volunteer work translating for child immigrants confronts with compassion and honesty the problem of the North American refugee crisis. It’s a rare thing: a book everyone should read.” -Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books