Victor Hinojosa and Coert Voorhees are the authors and Susan Guevara is the illustrator of the new children's picture book A Journey Toward Hope. It focuses on four unaccompanied children who journey to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Q:
How did you come up with the idea for A Journey Toward Hope, and for your
characters Nando, Laura, Alessandra, and Rodrigo?
VH:
This came from a course I teach at Baylor University about the Central American
refugee crisis. My students wanted to tell the story of these children, firmly
believing that if others knew what they knew about the crisis, they would want
to get involved and help. Coert caught the vision and the result has been a
remarkable partnership and a book we are really excited about.
CV:
It was really hard to synthesize everything into 17 spreads of a picture book,
so we set up some parameters based on the story that Victor and his students
wanted to tell and the information that they wanted to convey.
We
said, OK, we need to have a character from each of the countries that make up
the Northern Triangle: Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. We want a brother
and sister who travel together. We want an older boy who’s being recruited by
gangs and has to leave to protect himself and his family.
And
because some of the children on this journey don’t speak Spanish very well, may
speak an indigenous language, we needed to represent that as well.
 |
| Victor Hinojosa |
The
characters grew as we collaborated. Mostly via email, text, phone, and Skype
visits with Victor’s class, though I also made the short trip from Houston to
Waco to meet Victor and his students in person.
Once
the brilliant artist Susan Guevara came onboard, she joined in the Skype visits
from New Mexico.
Q:
What inspired the book's illustrations?
SG:
It’s my job as the illustrator to “flesh” out the visual world of a story. To
do that I need to walk within that world as best I can; beginning with my
emotional connection to the story, the theme, the characters. I need to feel it
in my bones.
Next,
I begin research. In every possible way, I study the landscape (physical,
cultural, political, historical) of that story. I draw as I research; doodle
one might even say. I trust a little mark, a bit of content, that feels right. The
final editor is my gut—supported by research and reason.
My
research for A Journey Toward Hope began with nine consecutive hours of news
video showing and interviewing those making the journey. The effect was mind-numbing
and, after many tears, drove me to find some way to depict the hope those
journeyers hold so persistently.
I’ve
experienced unseen helpers in many forms: some call helpers guides, ancestors
or even elementals. I’ve come to think of them as Life Essence. The Life
Essence of all things.
Sometimes
I imagine the essence in the shape of animals or ancestors, sometimes it is
just felt-sense. It’s a force that is usually born out of time spent in nature.
I
chose to give helpers to our book characters in the form of animal beings; not
to depict the animals as real, but as their essence to show certain personality
characteristics of each child. Each animal has its own strength, its own action
symbolizing hope.
As
I do feel this kind of support in my own life, representing the strength and
hope of our book characters in this way was the most personal expression I
could offer. I’m grateful for what these children making this journey have
taught me.
Q:
What do you hope children take away from this book?
 |
| Coert Voorhees |
CV:
To those young readers, I would say: Remember that the children making this
journey are just like you.
They
have people who love them and desperately want to see them again. They have
dreams for the future. They get cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and
they have favorite songs they like to sing, and there are smells that make them
think of home.
Imagine
yourself in their situation, and then ask yourself what think of what might be
helpful to you if you were in their shoes.
SG:
I hope children take many things from this book: knowledge of others, awe at
the courage it takes others to make this trip, wonderment, perhaps hope, that
all life is valued, theirs and others.
I
hope educators will take the opportunity to set the history of immigration,
especially Latinx immigration in context.
I
hope they will teach the critical role immigration has often played, as in the
Bracero program instituted in 1942 by the United States government to help
build the economy of this country.
I
hope they will teach the history of asylum in the U.S. and encourage their
students to research their own heritage, discover their ancestors’ origins, why
they immigrated here, why some children have ancestors that have been here as
First Peoples.
The
book offers an opportunity for us to know ourselves, our histories, to share
those with each other and recognize our similarities.
Q:
What do you see looking ahead for people facing situations similar to your
characters' situations?
VH:
So many children and families are facing dilemmas just like those faced by our
characters and unfortunately years-long drought in some areas and now the
COVID-19 pandemic is making all of this so much more difficult.
 |
| Susan Guevara, photo by Norman Mauskopf |
CV:
There was a lot of uncertainty around this issue already, and I imagine that
the pandemic is only going to exacerbate the issues that have led to migration
up to this point.
I
will say that inasmuch as people here in the U.S. can affect the outcome, I hope
that we make decisions based on empathy and our shared humanity rather than
based fear and demagoguery.
SG:
The light shines brightest in the dark. We have the opportunity for significant
change in this country. We have to see that change internally in order to
create it externally. These courageous journeyers of all ages have envisioned
the opportunity for a better life.
I
hope we’ll take their lead, envision a better life for all of us and create it
in the way best suited to our individual talents and drive.
I
love the premise on which the architect and designer, William McDonough begins
all his projects and find it a good principle for life in general: “How do we
love all children, of all species, for all time.”
Q:
What are you working on now?
VH:
We are working hard to better understand the Central American migration crisis.
We have several academic projects in the works and we are working to establish
partnerships with universities in Central America.
CV:
I’m working on a chapter book series about climate change, extreme weather, and
sustainability. I’m also really excited about a middle grade adventure novel
that I keep finding myself coming back to.
As
for Six Foot Press, our next picture book, Love Is Love by Fleur Pierets and
illustrated by Fatinha Ramos, comes out in November.
Love
Is Love is the sequel to Love Around the World (2020 ALA Rainbow Book List) and
follows Fleur and her partner Julian as they get married in 16 more countries
that recognize same-sex unions.
SG:
My current project is a small bas relief sculpture slated to be placed near a
28’ high by 22’ wide “green” wall that I
helped to plant and maintain for several years in Walnut Creek, California.
The
work shows anthropomorphized bugs and birds, flowers and vines, as participants
of “A Green Portal,” a block-long ecosystem of beauty that includes the living
wall, a green roof, and a sidewalk lined on both sides with overflowing beds of
color and fragrance.
Q:
Anything else we should know?
VH
and CV: We’ve had readers grumble a bit about where we end the book because
they want to know what happens to the characters next.
As
a storyteller, that’s the best thing to hear, but for this project, we ended it
where we did because a lot of what happens next is really up to US, the people
of the United States. What happens next depends on the programs and policies we
support and the change we’re willing to effect.
And
we need to continue fighting to make this country a place worthy of the hopes
and dreams of children like Laura, Nando, Rodrigo, and Alessandra.
Check
out ajourneytowardhope.com and hungerandpoverty.org to learn more.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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