A list of inspiring books that sheds light about the conflicts on the U.S-Mexico border.

Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border
by Luis Alberto Urrea
A compelling look at what life is like for refugees living on the Mexican side of the border-a world that is only about 20 minutes from San Diego, but has never been seen.

The Devil's Highway: A True Story
by Luis Alberto Urrea
The story of a group of men who attempt to cross the border into Arizona through a deadly reason called The Devil's Highway. This is an account of what these men actually encountered.

The Late Great Mexican Border: Reports from a Disappearing Line
by Bobby Byrd (Editor), Susannah Mississippi Byrd (Editor)
A series of essays that document different border experiences.

The U.S.-Mexican Border in the Twentieth Century (Latin American Silhouettes)
by David E. Lorey
The 2,000-mile-long international boundary between the United States and Mexico gives shape to a unique social, economic, and cultural entity.

Of Borders and Dreams: A Mexican-American Experience of Urban Education
by Chris Liska Carger
The story of Alejandro Juarez, Jr., a Mexican American youth, and his family's experiences in the parochial and public schools of Chicago (Illinois) portrays the problems that bilingual and bicultural children and their parents face.

Life, Death, and In-Between on the U.S.-Mexico Border: Asi es la vida
by Martha Oehmke Loustaunau(Editor)and Mary Sanchez-Bane(Editor)
A book focusing on specific problems of employment, education, drug addiction, violence, health care, and women's issues. It encourages a greater understanding of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
by Gloria E. Anzaldua
The issues regarding the Texas U.S-Mexico border.

Dying to Cross: The Worst Immigrant Tragedy in American History
by Jorge Ramos
A story about the death of nineteen people, the final hours of their incredible ordeal, and the network of individuals (and countries) who profit from what is considered by many nothing less than modern-day slavery.

Cutting for Sign
by Professor William Langewiesche
The story of one man's journey across the border.

Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide
by Peter Andreas
A book about the unprecedented buildup of border policing has taken place in an era otherwise defined by the opening of the border, most notably through NAFTA.

Lives on the Line: Dispatches from the U.S.-Mexico Border
by Miriam Davidson
Journalist Miriam Davidson uses the dramatic stories of five people and their families from the two Nogales as a microcosm of border problems. Davidson details the enormous and epic migration in Mexico toward the border, a migration propelled by demand for maquiladora laborers and describes the consequent appearance of overpopulated, marginal neighborhoods.

Hard Line: Life and Death on the U.S.-Mexico Border
by Ken Ellingwood
Los Angeles Times reporter illustrates the history of the US/ Mexico relationship describing the conflicts and emotions caused by illegal immigration, the reasons it occurs, and the effects it produces on the American economy and America's image of itself as a country.

U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
by Oscar J. Mart'nez
A collection of essays from 1830 to 1990 discussing key issues from borderlands history.

The Reaper's Line: Life and Death on the Mexican Border
by Lee Morgan, II
A true story of violence, drugs, human smuggling and dirty politicians along the Mexican American border.

Wetback Nation: The Case for Opening the Mexican-American Border
by Peter Laufer
Peter Laufer's proposals for the U.S. Mexican border. He argues for free movement of Mexicans back and forth across the border.

Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the "Illegal Alien" and the Making of the
U.S.-Mexico Boundary
by Joseph Nevins, with a foreword by Mike Davis
A book about the failed effort to significantly reduce unauthorized border crossings which has resulted in hardship, and sometimes death, for those who cross.

Fronteras No Mas:Toward Social Justice at the U.S-Mexico Border
by Kathleen Staudt and Irasema Coronado
A book that examines the range of officials, non-government organizations, networks, and remaining organizational vacuums that span the U.S.-Mexico border. The book offers a civic blueprint on ways to enchance cooperation, given the almost certain future of increased independence in this space.

Dead in Their Tracks: Crossing America's Borderlands
by John Annerino
The story of the "empty quarter" of America's Southwest, of migrant workers, the ranchers, the Border Patrol trackers and the drug runners who haunt an inhospitable wildnerness that is studded with bones of unfortunate immigrants.

How I Learned English
Forward by Ray Suarez, Afterward by Frank McCourt, Edited by Tom Miller
A collection by about 60 Latinos who contribute fascinating, revealing, essays on the personal process each went through to master the challenges of learning English.

Between Two Worlds: Mexican Immigrants in the United States
by David G. Gutirrez

Mexican Immigration (Changing Face of North America)
by LeeAnne Gelletly, Stuart Anderson (Editor), with a foreword by Marian L. Smith

Crossing the Line: Immigrants, Economic Integration, and Drug Enforcement on the
U.S.-Mexico Border
by Tom Barry, Harry Browne, and Beth Sims

Blood on the Border: Criminal Behavior and Illegal Immigration Along the
Southern U.S. Border
by Venson C. Davis