1. The book begins with a scene from Easter Week in Mexico, and ends with an evangelical service at a Mexican church in the California desert. What similarities between the migrants' journeys and biblical themes does the author explore in Crossing Over ?

2. What are the main differences between today's immigrants from Mexico and the immigrant generation that arrived in the 19th and early 20th centuries from Europe?

3. There are several scenes in the book in which American citizens express their opinions about the Mexican migrants, such as at the Wisconsin meatpacking plant, and at the farm in St. Louis. Compare and contrast these differing views.

4.  What kind of life do you think Wense and Rosa Cortéz will be leading 10 years from now? What will life be like for their daughter, Yeni?

5. The Tapia family in Arkansas appears to be doing very well—all their children are in or will be going to college. Do you think the Tapias did anything differently than the other families who do not appear to be doing as well? 

6. Earlier this year President Bush proposed a “guest worker” program that would allow Mexican laborers to work legally in this country for short periods of time, but not achieve legal resident status of citizenship. Do you think this is a fair proposal? What other ways might there be to resolve the dispute over undocumented workers in the United States?

7. In previous generations, we talked of the “melting pot” theory of assimilation, in which various ethnic and racial groups come to the United States and ultimately give up most of their particular cultures to become “American.” There is ample discussion of the migrants' experience of American culture in the book. Do you think today's immigrants are “assimilating” the same way as in yesteyear?

8. Discuss your personal experiences of immigration. Are you an immigrant? If not, how many generations ago did your family arrive in America? Do you interact with immigrants at school, at work? Do you know any “undocumented” immigrants?

9. If you grew up in Cherán, do you think you would leave for the United States, or prefer to stay home?

10. Do you think there will always be a border between the U.S. and Mexico? Can you imagine a North American continent that is more akin to the “borderless” European Union in the future?

All materials © 2004 by Rubén Martínez. By permission of Susan Bergholz Literary Services, New York. All rights reserved.