Efren Divided

Ernesto Cisneros's Efren Divided is a warm and very moving family story for 9 year olds about a boy who suddenly has to be the grown-up at home.

What happens

Efrén Nava lives in a one-room apartment with his Amá, his Apá and his little twin brother and sister, Max and Mía. The three kids share a mattress (Efrén usually wakes up with a foot in his face).

The only quiet spot is the bathroom, so that's where Efrén reads, curled up in the empty bath. He tapes his ears back too, because Amá always warns that funny faces will get stuck that way. He's hoping it works on ears.

Amá makes sopes for breakfast and makes do with a coffee herself so the kids can eat. Efrén decides she's a superhero and names her Soperwoman. You'll probably fall a little bit in love with her in the first chapter.

His best friend David is running for school president, and his big campaign idea is posters inside the toilet doors. Guess who has to sneak into the girls' toilets to put them up? It's very funny and very real.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Early on, in the second chapter, Efrén gets home from school and Amá isn't there. She's been picked up by immigration officers at a factory, and she's being sent back to Mexico.

From then on Efrén is looking after Max and Mía while Apá works all hours. There's talk of raids and families being split up, and in the first chapter a helicopter roaring overhead sends the family into lockdown. It's told gently, but it's a big, sad thing for a child to read about.

If your reader worries about their own family being split up, this could be a hard one. For a child who's ready to talk about things they've seen on the news, or who knows these fears first-hand, it could mean a great deal. Efrén is kind and funny and completely believable.

Spanish words and phrases run all the way through. Most are easy to work out, and a few are left for you to puzzle over together.

What to read next

The book Efrén is reading in the bath in chapter one is by one of his favourite authors, Louis Sachar. It's There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, and you'll find it in the library. Efrén thinks its hero, Bradley Chalkers, is the best, so your reader can find out why.