Kate and Lawrence drive through the desert on their way home from vacation and find a young girl sitting by the side of the road. Who is she? Where is she from and where is she going? Why is she there? When and how did she get there? What can they do to help? The girl won't speak, but that doesn't deter them from embarking on a journey through central and southern California to find the answers.
Kate and Lawrence drive through the desert on their way home from vacation and find a young girl sitting by the side of the road. Who is she? Where is she from and where is she going? Why is she there? When and how did she get there? What can they do to help? The girl won't speak, but that doesn't deter them from embarking on a journey through central and southern California to find the answers.
Professional Reviews
InD'tale Magazine
"Ms. Gallo has expertly intertwined social issues and current topics of the day through the story like a skilled weaver, creating a masterpiece that is filled with emotion, suspense, empathy, and love for others."
Chico Enterprise-Record
Since her inaugural novel, “Venice Beach,” Chicoan Emily Gallo has been chronicling the ever-expanding connections among a group of “misfits” who meet each other on the boardwalk.
In her new book, Gallo, fueled by “endless cups of Earl Grey tea” at the Tin Roof Café, takes up the story of Kate McCoy. “After Kate’s marriage broke up in her twenties, she had decided that motherhood and marriage were not in the stars for her … until she met Lawrence” Ellison, a retired UCLA English professor.
They soon marry and now, after Kate’s Peace Corps assignment, the Los Angeles couple is celebrating by exploring Anza-Borrego State Park during the day, and each other at night. “Just because we’re on Medicare,” Kate tells Lawrence, “doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.”
“DREAMer” ($12.95 in paperback, self-published; also for Amazon Kindle) begins with their discovery of a girl, perhaps about twelve, sitting “forlornly against a boulder” near Palm Canyon Drive. The girl seems unable to speak or perhaps doesn’t know English. No one else is around, and so Lawrence and Kate invite the reluctant girl into the car and drive through a series of small towns looking for someone in authority.
In Julian (known for its apple pie), the girl refuses to go into the sheriff’s office so the couple takes her home as they try to figure what to do next. It appears from some of the things the girl is carrying that her name is Marisol. Technically, she’s just been kidnaped. And that is keeping Lawrence awake.
“I am worried for her,” he tells Kate, “but the fact is that we haven’t been straight with law enforcement … and that is not going to help the situation. … Kate, you’re not a Black man living in this country. You cannot understand how much I have to worry about in everyday situations.”
What follows is an extraordinary detective story as Kate and Lawrence attempt to find Marisol’s identity and whether she has relatives in the U.S., calling in friends to help and avoiding law enforcement.
Gallo brings home the reality faced by children in Marisol’s situation, and underlines the couple’s compassion and tenacity in their quest against all odds.
Reader Views
“DREAMer,” by Emily Gallo, is a relevant discerning tale of the plight surrounding undocumented immigrants. Kate and Lawrence are enjoying their autumn romance. As retired educators, they are having fun exploring California together. On one of their jaunts through a more isolated area, they are surprised to discover a girl sitting on the side of the road. She refuses to answer any questions, or even use her voice. They pick her up with the intent of taking her to authorities until they discover how fearful she gets when she is around law enforcement. They suspect that she was probably crossed over the border by a coyote. Using clues from her few meager possessions, they begin a search for answers which appear to involve finding her sister. As they are looking for answers, the girl becomes more and more special to them.
DREAMer is an eye-opening novel for people who are not dealing with border issues. Through a fictional account, readers gain an understanding of the hardships that people encounter when they cross without going through official channels. In this case, a young girl was crossed by a coyote who was only interested in how he could profit, which put her in danger. Other characters in the novel share similar stories about things that happened to them when they came over. These stories also included the kinds of jobs that they had to take. Many of them involved working in the marijuana trade and were dangerous. As the couple look for answers, they gain so much more insight into the plight of these people.
The author created a very interesting, insightful mystery. The characters are very realistic and their issues are currently relevant. I like the married couple and I would love to see them in future mysteries. I was also impressed with how well the author described the small towns that were involved in this story. Most of these towns are unfamiliar to people, unless they’ve lived in the Central Valley or the southern California desert. Her attention to detail was spot on. I was even impressed that she provided accurate information for an Applebees where I live! Having lived in these areas, I enjoyed following along and seeing the details through the fictional eyes of the characters.
Readers who enjoy a good mystery with heartfelt characters will enjoy reading DREAMer. Those of us who have personally dealt with DREAMers will really relate to this story. I look forward to more writing by this author.
When high school principal Jerry Egge is brutally murdered, Deputy sheriff Dave Jenkins begins an eerie investigation. Just about everyone in Soldier, Minnesota, is a suspect.
"Murder isn't usually this funny."
Amazon re
