The Guardians

A Novel

By: Ana Castillo

Narrated by: Ana Castillo

Eking out a living as a teacher's aide in a small New Mexican border town, Tía Regina is also raising her teenage nephew, Gabo, a hardworking boy who has entered the country illegally and aspires to the priesthood. When Gabo's father, Rafa, disappears while crossing over from Mexico, Regina fears the worst.

After several days of waiting and an ominous phone call from a woman who may be connected to a smuggling ring, Regina and Gabo resolve to find Rafa. Help arrives in the form of Miguel, an amorous, recently divorced history teacher; Miguel's gregarious abuelo Milton; a couple of Gabo's gang-banger classmates; and a priest of wayward faith. Between the ruthless "coyotes" who exploit Mexicans while smuggling them to America and the border officials who are out to arrest and deport the illegal immigrants, looming threats are constant companions on the journey.

Ana Castillo brilliantly evokes the beautiful, stark desert landscape and creates vivid characters with strong voices and resilient hearts. The Guardians serves as a remarkable testament to enduring faith, family bonds, cultural pride, and the human experience.

©2007 Ana Castillo (P)2007 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"At once shatteringly realistic and dramatically mystical, Castillo's incandescent novel of suffering and love traces life's movement toward the light even in the bleakest of places." ( Booklist)

Deep and sincere

Loved hearing this through the author's voice. This story is so beautiful, so emotional.

Great and inteligent novel

This is an intelligent novel about the resiliency of the human spirit.

It is a great novel by a great writer that deals with serious issues in a humorous and intelligent way. I dare you not to laugh at loud!

Told from the point of view of four distinct characters, Ana Castillo does a wonderful job narrating her novel.

The Guardians tells the story of a family whose members straddle both sides of the US-Mexican border. Castillo succeeds painting for her readers a realistic picture of what it is to live in such a contested terrain.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson writes of the novel: "Ana Castillo's words truly make you feel as though you know exactly what it is like to grow up in a small border town in New Mexico."

Quality Writing -Valuable Insight on Mex-US Border

Refreshing to find writing that's really good - so good you like reading/listening regardless of the story. The narrator is the author. Her intonations are perfect - since she knows what she means in each sentence but she's a writer, not an actor. Her voice isn't appealing but it's not grating either. The lack of vocal richness sort of adds to the authenticity of the book -- it's just about real people. And The Guardians DOES give valuable insight on what's going on down there, rouses deserving empathy for the Mexicans but not in a chip on the shoulder angry way. We badly need new and HONEST perspectives and understanding on the border problems. I think someone who is defensively for "cementing" the border closed but who also really wants to understand the situation better could read this and not throw it across the room. I think they'd be glad they'd listened/read it. and for the rest of us - it just deepened my understanding.

Beautiful and Heart Wrenching

Loved every bit of this story from the way it was performed to the way it was written. I was there in the story with these characters seeing and feeling what they did. I will definitely listen to this again, it was beautiful.