Crossing the Wire

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. What is Rico’s nickname for Victor?

2. Who does Rico joke about shaking the hand of when he arrives in the United States?

3. Where did Victor’s family flee from?

4. Where does Victor’s mother advise him to go to pray before attempting to leave Mexico?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What are the differences between Rico and Victor’s characters, and what scenes in the novel illustrate these differences?

2. Why is Victor so careful?

3. Why does Rico want to go to the United States? What behaviors reflect his desire?

Paired Resource

“Extended Interview: A Human Smuggler”

• This article is an interview with a smuggler from Mexico who describes what he does for a living.
• Shared themes include The American Dream and Hard Work and Globalization and the Changing Economy.
• What is the difference between a pollero and a coyote? How does “Rafael” feel about people who aspire to work as a pollero? What type of training is typical for a pollero? How might the work of a pollero be considered differently in Mexico and the United States? What percentage of immigrants are successful in crossing the US border? 

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. What does the priest give Victor that serves as a sign to Victor’s mother that he should cross the border?

2. Who does Victor plan to track that seems successful in crossing the border?

3. Where is Julio from?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. After seeing the priest, what are the steps Victor takes to make it to the border?

2. What is the role of the people Victor meets on his journey, and why might they be important to his success?

3. Why is Julio determined to cross the border in Arizona?

Paired Resource

“Where Does Illegal Immigration Mostly Occur?”

• This data-driven article describes the places where immigrants tend to cross into the United States.
• Shared themes include The American Dream and Hard Work and Discovering Your Inner Strength.
• How does most illegal immigration occur? Where are the highest number of undocumented migrants captured? Why are people immigrating from the Northern Triangle states of Central America? Do walls deter immigrants?

Chapters 9-11

Reading Check

1. What does Julio plan to use to gain entry to Nogales, Arizona?

2. What could Julio and Victor carry to America on their backs to make quick money?

3. Who does Victor find at the church badly beaten?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Julio motivated to return to America despite having been deported before?

2. What news causes Julio distress when he meets Hector?

3. Why does Victor decide against joining Julio in the tunnels, and what regrets does he have about it?

Paired Resource

The US/Mexico Border Crisis

• This 10-minute video explores the border crisis on the US and Mexico border.
• Shared themes include The American Dream and Hard Work and Globalization and the Changing Economy.
• What are the concerns surrounding undocumented migrants in Mexico and the United States? What are some of the causes of these concerns? What struggles might families face on either side of the border?

Chapters 12-16

Reading Check

1. Where does the bus Miguel and Victor ride stop?

2. What is the translation for La Perra Flaca?

3. Where does Miguel hide when he is approached by the Border Patrol?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Miguel reluctant to travel with Victor? Why does Miguel eventually relent?

2. Why doesn’t Victor steal from the cabin the other migrants steal from? What does this reveal about his character?

3. Where does Victor decide to hide when he encounters the fisherman? Do you think it was a mistake?

Chapters 17-21

Reading Check

1. Who does Miguel encounter when he is returned to Nogales?

2. Who stole Rico’s backpack and $100 when he offered Rico passage through the tunnels?

3. Where does Rico go after he fails to find a ride around the Baboquivari Mountains?

4. What is the name of Jarra’s coyote?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why are the Mexican police unwilling to allow Rico’s coyote truck to pass?

2. Who is Jarra, and why does Victor dislike him?

3. Why does Rico trick Victor into helping Jarra?

Paired Resource

“Smuggling Migrants at the Border Now a Billion-Dollar Business”

• This article describes conflicts that occur in border cities because of cartels and drug-related crime.
• Shared themes include The American Dream and Hard Work and Globalization and the Changing Economy.
• How are migrants victimized by smugglers and cartels near the border? Why is it profitable to be a migrant smuggler? Why did the cartels switch from drug smuggling to migrant smuggling?

Chapters 22-28

Reading Check

1. What attacks Victor when he rests under an overhanging boulder?

2. Where does Dave agree to take Victor and Rico?

3. What have the boys been asked to harvest in Washington state?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do Victor and Rico leave Jarra’s group during a siesta, and where do they plan to go?

2. How does Victor interpret the presence of the jaguar that finds its way into his camp?

3. Why are Victor and Rico unable to stay with Reynaldo?

4. Why does Rico decide to return home? What caused him to leave in the first place?

Recommended Next Reads

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Nicola Yoon

• This memoir explores the life of Sara Saedi, an undocumented immigrant from Iran, and her family’s 18-year struggle to become US citizens.
• Shared themes include Globalization and the Changing Economy and Discovering Your Inner Strength.
• Shared topics include illegal immigration, friendship, and family.
• Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card on SuperSummary

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez

• This novel is about the experience of three teens as they travel from Guatemala to the US-Mexico border.
• Shared themes include The American Dream and Hard Work and Discovering Your Inner Strength.
• Shared topics include illegal immigration, victimization, and hardship.
• We Are Not From Here on SuperSummary