Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher

 The novel Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher, is targeted at the Young Adult market, and tells the story of a teenage girl and her younger brother traversing a near future, dystopian country, namely the U.S.A itself.  The book is founded on a clever twist that reverses the normal trope of Latino refugees navigating the terrors of South American violence to try and enter (illegally or not) the supposed safe zone of the U.S.  In fact, the teenage hero of this story, Vali, is an illegal immigrant, having entered the country with her parents when she was just a young child.  This is especially dangerous in the year 2032, with all citizens having had a chip embedded in their forearm, which is checked assiduously at various points in the day.  Her brother Ernesto is legal, having been born in the U.S., which provides a counterexample to the counterfeit chips that Vali and her mother have.

The story begins with a bang, as Vali watches on video feed, another teenage girl attempt to enter the U.S.  (which now has a real border wall and a Trump-like tyrant of a president) and gets blown up by a landmine.  A riot ensues, which somehow precipitates the succession of California from the union.  So begins the quest for sanctuary, as Cali, her mother and brother embark on a plan to get back to the new country of California.  The mother is captured early on, leaving Vali with a map and instructions to find a Sister Luci in New York City.  After a few harrowing days on the road, they somewhat miraculously locate the Sister, who is hiding refugees while running a church daycare.  She is able to fund a coyote (another miracle) to take them to California. 

Of course, all does not go well and easily on this trip.  The writing breezes by for the most part, punctuated by the various calamities and tragedies besetting the group of refugees originally led by the coyote.  Some of the peripheral characters, like Sister Luci and others, come off as placeholders for real people.  The authors do a decent job of providing a realistic voice for Vali, the narrator.  However, the entire story reads like a prequel for something larger, like a series that will engender a fight back against the dystopia, similar to the Hunger Games books. We shall see, I suppose.