Setting: The setting of The Crossing is in Juarez, Mexico by a bridge that connects Mexico to Texas.

Characters: The main characters of The Crossing are Manny Bustos and Robert S. Locke. Manny is an orphan who lives on the streets of Juarez. Robert is a Sergeant in the U.S Army who is at the border and faces personal issues he is trying to forget.

Problem: The problem of The Crossing is Manny has no money and no food and is struggling  to get across the border where he thinks he will have a better life. Robert is having problems with his memories and drinks too much.

Goal: Manny’s goal is to get to America where he thinks life would be better. Roberts goal is to  have a purpose in life again that will help keep the bad memories away.

• Event 1: Manny begs tourists to give him change yet when he finally gets the money he is beaten up by the older boys for the cash. This makes him realize that he is not safe begging and he needs to find a better way to survive.
  
• Event 2: Robert goes to the nightclub every night to drink so he can get the thoughts of his dead friends out of his mind. He gets so drunk he has to go throw up afterwards.
• Event 3: Robert is murdered as he saves Manny from the kidnappers who are trying to take and sell Manny.

Resolution: Before he dies, Robert gives Manny his wallet and tells him to use it to cross into America.

My opinion/Review: I really enjoyed reading The Crossing however I wish the book was longer so that I could learn more about the characters and so that I could enjoy it even more. I would have liked to have learned what happened to manny after the book ended. I also would like to have known what happened to Robert before the book started so I would have known why he didn’t want to remember his friends.

I feel like The Crossing really talks about what’s going on now with a lot of different countries even though it came out almost 12 years ago. For example, there is currently a group of politicians who want to build a wall on the border to keep people from Mexico from being able to reach America. Additionally, this summer families who were caught trying to cross the border were separated and children were often taken from their parents.