The Border Between Us

By: Rudy Ruiz

Narrated by: Eddie Lopez

The Border Between Us is a poignant coming-of-age novel from one of the most exciting voices in fiction.

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.

©2024 Rudy Ruiz (P)2024 Blackstone Publishing

Valley girl loved it!

As someone who grew up in the Valley, I could relate well with the spirit of the characters.

Poignant and powerful & completely readable

In THE BORDER BETWEEN US, Texas author Rudy Ruiz takes readers on an unforgettable literary journey full of life lessons, limes, and most of all -- love.

From the beginning, I was fully engaged in THE BORDER BETWEEN US, with the tense and intense situation within which author Ruiz places readers. Given the current real-life climate at our Texas border, plus the myriad of questions to be answered about this situation, I was hooked on the López family’s stories and secrets.

“In my mind and heart, the border ran through all things, including me … It was an invisible line I straddled, rather than an imaginary boundary at which I felt compelled to stop. I saw it not as a constraint, but as an invitation. Not as an end, but a beginning.”

Readers sit alongside main character Ramón López as he grows from a boy in Brownsville, Texas, into a man of the world, ever in pursuit of the elusive American dream. Ramón finds that part of the reason he has trouble finding the dream is because he keeps redefining it. Yet ultimately, he discovers that the dream was always right in front of him. I love the small dashes of magical realism that often help light his path.

The characters in THE BORDER BETWEEN US pop to life with the artistry of Ruiz’s writing. Ruiz suffuses the people and plotlines with authenticity and repeatedly illustrates the complexity of the human condition, particularly within the López family dynamic. Whether it’s Ramón’s guarded father or his saint-like mother, his rogue uncle or his sage grandma, readers will be enthralled, amused, frustrated, and yes – sometimes heartbroken as Ramón navigates the intricacies of relationships. But we’re cheering for him all the way, and we’re left thinking about these oh-so-real people long after closing the book’s cover.

Eddie Lopez’s near-flawless audiobook narration pairs perfectly with Ruiz’s writing for a beautiful listening experience. There are a few blips, but my only real quibble is the narrator’s mispronunciation of Harlingen, which tells me he’s not a Texan. I listened at regular speed, which is a rarity for me and shows the delivery and pacing are excellent. I wouldn't hesitate to listen to this narrator again.

Though I did listen to the audiobook initially, I snagged the eBook to re-read many of the chapters because the passages are simply beautiful. I noted early on that Ramón’s vocabulary, even as a boy, is exceptional and he has thoughts that are showstoppers. For example, as he contemplates a major life change as a young teenager, he thinks: “I wonder if the river felt liberated when it met the sea.” As a tragedy unfolds for some high school classmates, he reflects these are, “Futures buried in freshly turned soil.” Later, following another tragedy, he states: “Reality is oblivious to grief.” Stunning.

THE BORDER BETWEEN US demonstrates literary fiction at its finest. Ruiz’s prose is poignant and powerful, yet completely readable and relatable: a perfect balance for this reader. I highly recommend this timely novel and will be indulging in Ruiz’s other novels soon. Rudy Ruiz has just secured himself on my must-read author list.