Barbara's Reviews > The Everything I Have Lost

I'm not sure why this book hasn't received more attention, given that its protagonist has so many relatable experiences and emotions. Twelve-year-old Julia records the things that matter to her in her diary over the course of a year that sees many changes in Julia and in her life. The book starts off with an incident that reveals much about life in Juarez, Mexico, where she lives with her parents and brother Willy. While the family is watching a movie at the movie theater, someone steals their car. Julia is understandably upset because the thief also took the things she valued, including her own diary. Over the course of the pages Julia writes, it becomes increasingly clear that Juarez is a tough city in which to live and that the violence and crime are escalating. Eventually, Julia comes to live in El Paso, Texas, just across the border, with other family members while it becomes clear that her father is also involved in the crime and violence. Julia faces several of the usual challenges of someone who has crossed the border--fitting in, language issues, cultural dissonance, and a longing for the life she once led. Indeed, there are points in the book in which it seems as though she's lost everything, especially when she learns the truth about her father and feels as though her mother has abandoned her. I was impressed with the raw emotion expressed here as Julia comes of age, but there were parts that seemed almost too vague, leaving readers to draw many conclusions for themselves. Perhaps some back matter with statistics on crime or death in Juarez might have helped fill that need for me. Still, I came to care about Julia and hope that her life turns out to be exactly what she has dreamed it to be. There are parts of this book that sound exactly like someone her age would. and I would expect her story to resonate with many middle grade readers.