The Border Between Us

Winner of the Kempner Prize for Best Book of Fiction and the Rudolfo Anaya Prize for Best Novel and longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize

“Ruiz helps us appreciate the great gift that our manifold heritages truly are. He has written a sensitive novel that addresses many issues facing today’s teens—from cultural disorientation to cultural identity, from material poverty to excessive materialism, from addiction to negligent parents. It’s a provocative book and well worth the read.”—Washington Independent Review of Books

Ramón López was born along the US-Mexico border but is determined to get out and embrace the American dream—and he’s not sure whether his complicated family is a help or a hindrance. As the son of immigrants, as Ramón grows, his admiration for his entrepreneurial father sours as he watches his dad’s dreams of success wither on the vine. Ramón’s mother is constantly preoccupied with his younger brother, who struggles with intellectual disabilities. And the outside world is rife with danger and temptations threatening to distract Ramón from his dreams of making it to New York and succeeding as an artist.

As dreams clash with reality and values conflict with desires, Ramón finds the American dream within his reach—but will it demand too big a sacrifice?

Award-winning author Rudy Ruiz brilliantly captures the beauty and the danger of border life as Ramón struggles to understand his home and his place in the world. The Border Between Us is a stunning, compassionate story about a son’s fraught relationship with his father, the challenges of pursuing a creative life when you come from humble beginnings, and the power of embracing the whole of who you are.