The Magic Paper: Mexican-Americans: A Story Based on Real History

This easy-to-understand reader is part of the acclaimed Hopes and Dreams historical novel series, designed specifically for English learners and newcomers to the United States. Each novel follows a different immigrant family navigating the challenges of prejudice, danger, loss, and rebuilding in a new country.

Plot Summary for The Magic Paper

This is the story of Teresa Garcia and Benito Cruz, two Mexican-Americans. In 1980 Teresa buys a fake visa and comes alone to Los Angeles to care for her sick aunt. Then she stays, working in a dress factory to send money home to Mexico. Benito crawls through a pipe into California, where he works as a migrant farmworker. They meet and fall in love. Benito moves to Los Angeles and works in a factory. They want to marry, but they can’ t because they are illegal.

They work hard and save money to go to Mexico and bring Teresa’ s sister back. Finally they have enough money, but when they go to Mexico City, there is a great earthquake. Teresa’ s whole family is killed. They come back to the U.S. illegally. They continue to work hard and wait until a new law lets them apply to get the magic paper, to become legal, and to get married. At last, they feel safe.

Features Free accompanying AUDIO program, available to download from https://www.prolingualearning.com/ or to stream on https://www.youtube.com/@ProLinguaLearningAudio Includes a downloadable Sample Lesson for classroom or independent study Includes a downloadable Teacher’ s Guide with a Plot Summary, Discussion Questions, Historical Photos, and Detailed Background Includes downloadable ready-to-use classroom activities: What Did You Read? Form, Book Report Form, Word Play, and Fill-in-the-Blanks Review Activities Ideal for reading, discussion, and cross-cultural understanding in ESL or citizenship programs Also in the “ Hopes and Dreams” Series The Family from Vietnam: Vietnamese-Americans A Different Home: Cuban Americans For Gold and Blood: Chinese-Americans Hungry No More: Irish-Americans Nobody Knows: African-Americans The Magic Paper: Mexican-Americans Sent Away: Japanese-Americans Little Italy: Italian-Americans Old Ways, New Ways: Jewish-Americans Neighbors: A Family from El Salvador Two Hearts: Irish-Americans

Tana Reiff, author of the Hopes and Dreams series, holds a B.S. degree in elementary education and a master’s in secondary English with a concentration in applied linguistics. She has taught adult basic education, ESL, and college-level linguistics, and worked in multimedia communications for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. She is the author of dozens of hi-lo books (high interest, low reading level) for readers of all ages.