UNEARTHED

As a mayoral candidate ushers in a surge of harsher anti-immigrant rhetoric and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across Coast City, a young hero discovers within herself the courage and hope needed to take a stand.

It’s a pivotal period in Jessica Cruz’s life, with her junior year of high school bringing college-related deadlines, a museum fellowship, and rigorous academic work. There’s also the undocumented status she shares with her parents weighing on her mind as well as a complicated Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals renewal form. Though the pressures of school, her family’s expectations, and her DACA status fall heavily on Jessica’s shoulders, the growing success of xenophobic candidate Fernanda Villamontes and the increasing presence of ICE in her community exacerbate the ever looming threat of deportation, enough to make a permanent return to Mexico appealing for her and her family. Then Jessica’s nightmares come true when her father is arrested by ICE agents. Feeling isolated, Jessica grapples with her fears in dreams in which Aztec gods—Chalchiuhtlicue, Goddess of the Jade Skirt, and Tezcatlipoca, God of the Smoking Mirror—pull her between love and anger, friendship and conflict. Bolstered by some excellently vibrant, folk-art–flavored illustration, this DC hero’s origin story deftly weaves in contemporary societal issues with a cleareyed optimism that encourages and informs. Still, it’s a heart-wrenching read at times. In the end, a community’s strength and resolve prove crucial.

A beautifully executed, much-needed portrayal.