My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqui hasta alla

Perez, Amada Irma. My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqui hasta alla. San Francisco, California: Children’s Book Press, 2002.

In the story My Diary from Here to There/Mi diario de aqui hasta alla, a young girl named Amada must move with her family from Juarez, Mexico to Los Angeles, California. Her father had lost his job, and in order to support his wife and six children, they needed to move to the United States. Amada was less than thrilled, as she had grown up in Mexico, and loved her home, her beautiful country, and her family. She was also afraid that she would not be allowed to speak Spanish in America, and that she would be unable to learn English. The story is told from the perspective of her diary, so the reader is let into her most secret and deepest thoughts.

When it came time to leave and her family was driving along the Mexican/American border, she saw that both countries looked the same on each side. She then realized that as long as she had her family, she would be able to adapt to a new environment. Before she left Mexico, her Nana gave her a diary and told her to “Never forget who you are and where you come from. Keep your language and your culture alive in your diary and in your heart” (Perez). With this, Amada realized that just because she was moving to a country that was completely foreign to her, that did not mean that she had to forget about the life she had created in Mexico with her friends and family.

When children are forced to move with their family because there are better opportunities elsewhere, it is important that they understand that they are allowed to bring their culture with them, as it is at the core of their being. Amada was afraid that she would have to be an America when she moved, taking on the English language and forgetting everything she knew about being a Mexican. However, after her Nana and Papa encouraged her that it was acceptable and important for her to stay committed to her native culture, she realized that she was strong enough to accomplish that task. At the end she wrote in her diary: “Just because I’m far away from my friends and family, it does not mean they’re not here with me. They’re in your pages and the language that I speak; and they’re in my memories and my heart” (Perez).