Five Star Read #3: Lucky Boy

I've been seeing Lucky Boy reviewed favorably in many places and have to add my praise. Sekaran's novel is a great novel to curl up with, to discuss, and to think about long after you've read the last page.

Solimar is just eighteen when she leaves her home in Mexico to go to America and live with her cousin. Her journey is one filled with struggles as she attempts to find a way across the border without documentation. Her plans go further awry when she realizes she is pregnant. Although she is living with her cousin who has helped her find a job cleaning homes, life is tough in this new country, and made even more difficult by the fact that she is soon to become a mother.

Kavya is married and has been trying to get pregnant for a while. She has long felt that she doesn't measure up to her childhood friend to whom everything comes easily. She and her husband have now resorted to fertility treatments in an effort to realize their dream of becoming parents.

When Solimar is sent to an immigration detention facility and her infant son placed in foster care, it is a perfect opportunity for Kavya to have a chance at motherhood. But, taking a child away from his mother who loves him and cares for him simply because she is not a citizen brings up an important and controversial issue (which unfortunately does exist).

There is a lot to think about and discuss in this book. Sekaran does a great job of letting readers know both women so that I found it easy to imagine myself in either of their positions and felt for them both. Lucky Boy is worthy of the praise it's receiving and would be a fantastic book club selection as well.