American Tumbleweeds

By: Marta Elva

Narrated by: Marta Elva Rangel Gibbons

Set along the international border between El Paso, Texas, and Cuidad Juárez, Mexico, American Tumbleweeds tells the bittersweet story of a Mexican-American family’s struggle to stay together as tradition collides with the social upheaval of 1960s America.

Skillfully conveyed through the eyes of Inez, an innocent and vulnerable 13-year-old girl, her and her family indeed “tumble” back and forth over our southernmost border. A physical divide caused by the politics of nations separating families. For Inez, life in El Paso is far more exciting as the explosion of rock music and new personal freedom shatter traditions on both sides of the border and inside her family.

American Tumbleweeds is insightful, timely, and captures poignantly the growing pains of all immigrants whose dual cultural identities lend them both strength and strife.

©2021 Marta Elva Rangel Gibbons (P)2021 Marta Elva Rangel Gibbons