Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States

The moving stories of children in migration--in their own words.

"In Spanish and in English, a devastating first-person account of children's experiences in detention at the southern U.S. border.... A powerful, critical document only made more heartbreaking in picture-book form." --Kirkus Reviews starred review

Every day, children in migration are detained at the US-Mexico border. They are scared, alone, and their lives are in limbo. Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz shares the stories of 61 these children, from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Mexico, ranging in age from five to seventeen--in their own words from actual sworn testimonies. Befitting the spirit of the project, the book is in English on one side; then flip it over, and there's a complete Spanish version.

Illustrated by 17 Latinx artists, including Caldecott Medalist and multiple Pura Belpré Illustrator Award-winning Yuyi Morales and Pura Belpré Illustrator Award-winning Raὺl the Third. Includes information, questions, and action points. Buying this book benefits Project Amplify, an organization that supports children in migration.


Author: Warren Binford
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Published: 04/13/2021
Pages: 96
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 8.70h x 11.10w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781523513482
Language: Spanish
Audience: Ages 9-12


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/22/2021
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2021
Booklist 05/21/2021
School Library Journal 12/03/2021 pg. 1

About the Author

Project Amplify is a national campaign launched to establish legal protections for children in government care so that the brutality discovered on the border never happens again. Project Amplify's lead organizer is Warren Binford, an internationally recognized children's rights scholar and advocate who holds a tenured position as Professor of Law and serves as the Director of the Clinical Law Program at Willamette University. She founded Willamette's Child and Family Advocacy Clinic, which has provided pro bono legal support to children and families in crisis, as well as guidance on legislation and public policy. She has published nearly 60 law review articles, book chapters, essays, NGO publications, and editorials and has given approximately 150 presentations, primarily on topics related to children's issues, throughout the country and around the world. Binford holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A., summa cum laude with distinction, and an Ed.M. from Boston University. She lives in Oregon.

Michael Garcia Bochenek (foreword) is senior counsel to the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, focusing on juvenile justice and refugee and migrant children. He has researched and reported on criminal and juvenile justice systems and prison conditions, the protection of refugees and internally displaced persons, the exploitation of migrant workers and other labor rights issues, the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, and rights violations in armed conflict, including the use of children as soldiers. From 2006 to 2015, he was director of policy and then director of law and policy for Amnesty International's secretariat in London, where he oversaw strategic litigation, among other responsibilities. He holds a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a law degree from Columbia University. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish and Portuguese. Michael lives in New York.