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The Crossing of Sixto Jaramillo Book Review

Clark's Eye on Books By Clark Isaacs

The story is about a female U.S. border patrol agent named Miranda Littlefield whose heritage is a mixture of Anglo, Mexican and Quechan Indian.

While the title signifies a plot that is dominated by a pursuit of a character named Sixto Jaramillo, the real story is about a journey into the agent's own personal ancestral contradictions; the cultural domination of her Mexican heritage accentuated by Mexican grandparents that raised her when her mother abandoned her; the Anglo great, great grandmother's bloodline, hidden in the days of such prejudice, whose escapades led her into a sordid affair with a Quechan Indian who was Miranda's great-great grandfather, name unknown. And finally, it is through this great-great grandfather and her grandfather as well, that the ancestry of the Quechan mystical heritage was handed down to her revealed only through her intense pursuit of the Jaramillo case.

"It wasn't true that Miranda had no inkling of the violence that was about to be done to the routine of her life; for the night before she had a dream of such color and clarity that she left her house that Wednesday morning beset by an uncharacteristic anxiety that distracted her from her usual pleasure in the quiet streets and cool desert air."

Because of these contradictions in Miranda's persona, she is not even aware of why she is so intrigued with the Sixto character, though she confesses partly it is because of family interests. But the reality of her American culture as an agent embroiled in a cartel heap of deadly consequences, of which the young man, Sixto Jaramillo, was only a touch upon such criminal activity across borders, has caused her Quechan culture to intensify through these dreams and drives her to discover frightening truths within such activities, particularly with some of her own agent friends.

Author Betty Green is masterful at narrative description. The entire book reads like a historical novel, as the author details carefully geographical, as well as the historical knowledge of Yuma and the Spaniard invasion of tribes in the region. She also has accomplished extensive research on Quechan folklore, traditions, and physical artifacts.

This book is not only a fictional narrative, but a timely journey into historical traditions and cultural folklore embedded in the people and the customs of the border towns surrounding the U.S. & Mexico, reminding us of the conflicting political unrest that has been a debate to which the author returns us.

But the ending has such a twist that we are brought back to the reality that it is a fictional narrative with lots of exciting twists and turns and revelations, that one can only feel it is a great way to spend reading time.

The Crossing of Sixto Jaramillo
ISBN: 0533160650, Pages 248
Author, Betty Green
(2009) Vantage Press, New York

Clark Isaacs is an accomplished book critic who is published in local newspapers and national book review lists. Contact Clark through his website at clarkisaacs.ning.com or through NewsBlaze.