Hurdles in the Dark
My Story of Survival, Resilience, and Triumph
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- ¥1,400
発行者による作品情報
A Mexican-American teen girl dreams of winning an athletic scholarship against all odds in a Texas border town. This true story of survival, strength, and triumph is perfect for fans of Educated and Athlete A.
Twenty-four hours: that's how long fourteen-year-old Elvira Gonzalez is given to come up with the $40,000 she needs to save her kidnapped mother from a drug cartel. It's 2006 and Elvira's hometown of Laredo, Texas, has become engulfed by the Mexican Drug War. Elvira's life is unraveling around her—setting her on a harrowing path that leads her to being locked up in one of South Texas's worst juvenile detention centers.
After Elvira's released from juvie, she's resolved to never go back. That's when her unexpected salvation arrives in the form of 33-inch-high plastic hurdles. Determined to win a track scholarship out of Laredo, Elvira begins breaking into the school, alone, at 5:30 in the morning to practice hurdling. Soon, she catches the attention of a renowned high school coach, an adult man in his 30s. As they train, their coach-student relationship begins to change, becoming sexual. At just seventeen years old, Elvira experiences the dangers many young athletes face, especially those who are marginalized. In spite of these towering obstacles, Elvira eventually propels herself to become one of the top ranked hurdlers in the USA and the first in her family to go to college.
This inspiring true story of grit, tenacity, and hope traces Elvira's path as she overcomes impossible hurdles in her race to freedom.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In sixth grade, Gonzalez lives in a house in Laredo, Tex., with 12 unemployed adults, including her single mother, in a neighborhood called "Ghost Town." While attending a wedding in Mexico at 14, her mother is kidnapped, and Gonzalez is given one day to raise $40,000 to secure her mother's release. Though she succeeds, she's traumatized by the event. Her home life deteriorates and, following time spent in juvenile detention, Gonzalez determines that a college education is the only thing that will improve her financial situation, but her subpar academics won't get her there. Set on winning a sports scholarship by running hurdles, she trains, pushing her body to the limit. When she's approached by a renowned track coach, Gonzalez feels as if her luck is turning around—until their coach-student relationship starts to change. Gonzalez offers a glimpse into the challenges she faced navigating financial precarity, racism, sexual abuse, and violence through candid and insightful text, culminating in a raw and powerful debut. A foreword contextualizes the subject's upbringing, and an afterword offers further information about the topics discussed. Ages 14–up.
