The Book of Rosy: A Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border

Yes, this is Rosayra Pablo Cruzs story about her migration from Guatemala to the United States and paying a steep price in the process. The moving book also serves two larger purposes: it puts a face to the Trump administrations cruel zero tolerance policies that have separated parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border. Second, it explores how Rosys life intersected with that of Julie Schwietert Collazzo, founder of Immigrant Families Together, a nonprofit that has been reuniting separated families and helping them live full lives in their newly adopted country. Heartbreaking and hopeful, a home run.

We rarely ever read migrants writing their own stories. This book is a poetic, powerful guy-punch of a read about how two women were affected by Trumps immigrant family separation policies. It is also a testament to the power of one committed individual to create change that will go down in history.

The Book of Rosy is a gut wrenching, powerful, beautifully written true story, told in alternating first person accounts from a Guatemalan woman detained and separated from her children at the U.S border, and the American woman who helped her successfully obtain legal asylum in the U.S. Pablo Cruz’s story of her experiences growing up in poverty and violence in Guatemala are harrowing to read, but also may be eye opening for many American, who might be ignorant of the history that led many Central American countries to their current crisis state. Pablo Cruz does not shy away from the complexity of the issues; she has no easy answers to offer for how to fix the intractable problems of gang violence, but she speaks with the authority of lived experience. I think part of what made The Book of Rosy so emotionally affecting was Pablo Cruz’ vulnerability in sharing the complexity of her own story; she never paints herself as a “perfect victim,” she is candid about her personal struggles, and I think anyone reading this book will wonder what they would have done, if put they were faced with the same horrific non-choice “choices” as Pablo Cruz. One of the things I found surprising about The Book of Rosy, was how much of Pablo Cruz’ sections dealt with her religious faith, which is very much the lens through which she views her life experiences. These sections could have easily been edited out, but I respect the publisher’s choice to be true to Pablo Cruz’ authentic voice. With all the recent controversy over the novel “American Dirt,” I think it is so important that Americans get to read a real, “own-voice” account from someone who has actually lived the experience of escape, detention, and immigration. The Book of Rosy would be a perfect pick for book clubs, church groups etc….sure to spark discussion. I hope this book finds the audience it so richly deserves, and that reading it will give Americans insight, empathy, and mostly importantly, a human face to put on these issues. This true story has a happy ending, with Pablo-Cruz succeeding in getting legal asylum, her children doing well in school and building a new life for themselves in the United States. It’s the hopeful story we all desperately need to hear right now.

I’m glad to have purchased this book. She has a lot of courage and i admire her resilience. She is a woman of faith and she kept pushing to save her family and continues to shine a light and give hope for other women and children who are crossing over for a better life. I loved how much her boys have grown and i screamed with excitement when toward the end when… well I’m not going to let out any spoilers.. just read this book, it will not disappoint!

The Book of Rosy is an incredibly well-written first-hand account of a young mother’s imperiled journey seeking refuge in the United States from her home country of Guatemala. After making the heartbreaking decision to brave the journey, leaving other family members behind, Rosy and her sons miraculously survive a dangerous journey through Guatemala and Mexico only to be detained, abused, and separated at the U.S. border. Alongside Rosayra Pablo Cruz’s gripping account of her experience, Julie Schwietert Collazo shares how she heard about the Trump Administration’s mistreatment of innocent asylum seekers and sprung to action, creating Immigrant Families Together, the organization that raised funding to bail out, reunite, and support Rosy and her sons, among others.

The Book of Rosy is sad and yet uplifting, an incredibly important read, and nearly impossible to put down. Read it at once.

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