Into the Beautiful North - by Luis Alberto Urrea (Paperback)

About the Book

Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who had journeyed to the U.S. to find work. "Into the Beautiful North" is the story of a young woman's quest to find herself on both sides of the fence.

Book Synopsis

This powerful novel from a bestselling and Pulitzer Prize winning author tells the story of a young woman's journey--both emotionally and physically--as she travels north to America.

Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the US to find work. Recently, it has dawned on her that he isn't the only man who has left town. In fact, there are almost no men in the village -- they've all gone north. While watching The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men -- her own "Siete Magnv?ficos" -- to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over.

Filled with unforgettable characters and prose as radiant as the Sinaloan sun, Into the Beautiful North is the story of an irresistible young woman's quest to find herself on both sides of the fence.

Review Quotes

"[Into the Beautiful North] is deliciously composed...[Urrea writes] in a sweet but serious style...You find it in the dialogue...You find it in the description of the countryside...the plot gathers as much strength as the prose..."--Alan Cheuse, Chicago Tribune

"Awash in a subtle kind of satire...A funny and poignant impossible journey...Into the Beautiful North is a refreshing antidote to all the negativity currently surrounding Mexico." --Roberto Ontiveros, Dallas Morning News

"Magical"--Vanity Fair

About the Author

A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his landmark work of nonficiton The Devil's Highway, Luis Alberto Urrea is also the bestselling author of the novels The Hummingbird's Daughter, Into the Beautiful North, Queen of America, The House of Broken Angels, and Good Night, Irene, as well as the story collection The Water Museum, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist.

He has won the Lannan Literary Award, an Edgar Award, and a 2017 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, among many other honors. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, he lives outside of Chicago and teaches at the University of Illinois-Chicago.