Diego's Crossing

Seventeen-year-old Diego dreams of a brighter future. His small town near the Mexican-United States border has been ravaged by the drug war, and the newspaper headlines are filled with body counts. Diego worries about his parents, particularly his tenderhearted father. Their road trips in his dad's beloved, rusty Datsun are the only times the family can truly be carefree.

One day, Diego's older brother Ernesto--the town's golden boy-- shows up in a tricked-out Chevy Silverado. Diego is fully aware of what no one is willing to openly admit: Ernesto is a gangster. Diego manages to avoid his brother, until he discovers Ernesto badly beaten and unable to finish a drug run for a brutal gang. Then Diego does what he swore he would never do--deliver drugs across the border.

With danger closing in from all sides--from the drug cartel threatening his family to the vigilant border officers suspicious of everyone who looks Mexican to the volatile buyers waiting for their goods--Diego desperately tries to finish his journey.

Once he successfully delivers the drugs, Diego is faced with yet another choice. He has proven to be a valuable asset to the drug cartel who wants him to become one of their own. Does he risk everything for their big but risky paydays, or does he walk away back to his small town of little opportunity?

Hough's writing is sophisticated and vibrant. With all the suspense of a fast-paced movie, this gripping novel about Diego's treacherous journey across borders is also a moving story about a boy's crossing into manhood.

Robert Hough is the author of several critically acclaimed novels for adults, including Dr. Brinkley's Tower, shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award, and The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize. This is his first book for young adults. He lives in Toronto.