I WORKED ON THIS BOOK for more than five years, and many people helped along the way. But I’d like to start with just two names. When I approached former Kingsbury principal Carlos Fuller with my crazy idea of hanging out in his school for a year, he could have said no, but he said yes. I’ll write here what I told him in person: while I didn’t necessarily agree with every decision he made, I saw him as someone who loved the kids. Thank you, Mr. Fuller. And Margot Aleman from Streets Ministries was the first person to introduce me to individual students, including Isaias. Those introductions led to everything else. Thank you, Margot.
I interacted with well over 160 people connected to the Kingsbury universe, including staffers at the high school, elementary school, middle school and vocational center. There are too many names to list here, but I thank every teacher, counselor, administrator, student, parent, sibling as well as the people with TRIO, Young Life, Leadership Memphis, the Memphis Police and Streets Ministries.
I also want to thank the leaders of the former Memphis City Schools for their support, including former regional superintendent Kevin P. McCarthy, attorney Sybille Noble and former superintendent Kriner Cash.
At Latino Memphis, I thank Mauricio Calvo for giving me the idea for this book and former staffer Jennifer Alejo for helpful insight.
The International Center for Journalists brought me to Washington in 2012 for an excellent multi-day training session on immigration policy. I thank Patrick Butler, Johanna Carrillo and the rest of the ICFJ staff, as well as the Scripps Howard Foundation for sponsoring the program.
I also thank the organization Investigative Reporters and Editors for its excellent conference sessions on writing techniques and the book industry, the Dart Center for a useful session on youth violence that showed me for the first time that reporters sometimes hang out in schools, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for sponsoring a series of my talks, the Education Writers Association for exposing me to ideas that influenced this book, the Mayborn literary nonfiction conference and the Power of Narrative conference for high-level training on storytelling, and Neil White for his informative seminars on book publishing.
Photographer Karen Pulfer Focht stuck with me for years and captured many of the images that appear in this book. Photographer Dominic Bracco II worked long hours with me during my critical trip to Mexico in 2013 and let me stay in his apartment before my flight home. Thank you both for your energy, enthusiasm and great pictures.
I also want to thank my friends Dr. Victor Saul Vital Reyes and Dr. Mardya Lopez for opening their home to me in Mexico City.
At The Commercial Appeal, I’m grateful to the people who approved my two leaves of absence: former editor Chris Peck and current editor Louis Graham. I also thank my supervisors Peggy Burch and Jacinthia Jones for backing this project and dealing with my absences, reporter Samantha Bryson for covering for me during my first leave of absence, as well as editors Zack McMillin, John Sale and Ian Lemmonds for producing the December 2013 newspaper project on Isaias. Reporter Jennifer Backer generously shared documents she’d uncovered while reviewing the shutdown of Victory University.
I thank G. Wayne Dowdy and other staffers of the Memphis Room at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library for helping me with archival research.
I funded my early work on this book with money I inherited from my mother’s side of the family. My grandparents and my mother are gone now, but I want to acknowledge their role. I must thank divine providence, too, for the many other lucky breaks I received.
When I started this process, I didn’t know how to write a book. I thank the people who helped me learn, including freelance editor Laura Helper-Ferris, as well as these writing group leaders: Sonja Livingston at the University of Memphis, Leslie Rubinkowski of Creative Nonfiction magazine and Paul A. Kramer at Vanderbilt University. And I thank all the members of their writing groups, too.
Each Thursday for several years, I sent “book updates” to a small group. They included some of the people I’ve already mentioned, plus these family members: my brothers, Matt Connolly and Michael Thomas Connolly; my sister-in-law, Jolanda Pandin; my father, Leo Connolly; my aunt Joanne Salviani; my uncle John Salviani; my stepmother, Barbara Huber, and her children, David Huber, Deborah Huber and Donna Huber; David’s wife, Michelle, as well as several friends and colleagues: Jeff Reed, Rosa Ramirez, Wendi C. Thomas, Maria Cerny, Louise Julig, Kyle Veazey, Nana Sintim-Damoa and Carol Guensburg. Knowing you were out there made the long days of work less lonely.
Many of the list members helped with reporting problems and spent hours reading early drafts of the book. These people helped, too: Ian Johnson, Marc Perrusquia, Lise Olsen, Eileen Gorey and Deborah Santiago.
Many authors and journalists offered me help and advice. They include Emily Yellin, Sam Quinones, Sonia Nazario, Bruce Shapiro, Sarah Carr, Jeff Gammage, Richard Middlemas, Tom French, Lucy Hood, James Neff, Dennis McDougal, David Cay Johnston, Brooke Hauser, Lisa Hickman, Roland Klose, Roy Peter Clark, Pat Potter, George Getschow, Doug Swanson, Phil Kuntz, Buzz Bissinger, Lowell Bergman, Michèle Stephenson, Molly Caldwell Crosby, Trevor Aaronson, Charles Lewis, Bob Ortega, Linda K. Wertheimer, Virginia Morell, Josh Meyer, Rebecca Skloot, Aram Goudsouzian, Mark Greaney, Miriam Pawel, David Margolick, Kim Severson and Courtney Miller Santo.
I was extraordinarily lucky that literary agent Michelle Tessler took an interest in my project after many others passed. She improved my book proposal and quickly found me a great publishing home at St. Martin’s Press. Advice to would-be authors: talk to Michelle first. Then try all other agents.
At St. Martin’s Press I thank my editor, Elisabeth Dyssegaard, who immediately understood the importance of the story and my vision for the book, and reviewed draft after draft to help me say what I was trying to say. I also thank the other hardworking members of the St. Martin’s team, especially Laura Apperson, Michael K. Cantwell, Donna Cherry, Georgia Maas, Christine Catarino, Katie Bassel, Claire Leaden, Kristopher Kam, Laura Clark and Kathryn Parise.
I thank these helpful professionals: my attorney, Brian Faughnan; clerical assistant Bridgett Byrum; my shorthand coach, Carolyn Bowlin and my friend Ralph Dickinson for translations when my Spanish knowledge hit its limits.
Finally, I thank the family at the center of this book: Isaias, Dennis, Dustin, Mario and Cristina, their family and friends in Hidalgo and the members of the band Los Psychosis. My interactions with the family lasted well over three years, far longer than I originally thought. Frankly, if a reporter wanted to follow me around for three years I’m not sure I’d say yes. At any time Isaias or his family could have said, “You know what, Daniel? That’s enough.” But the family members in Memphis and Hidalgo welcomed me into their homes again and again with warm hospitality and delicious meals. I was humbled by their generosity and hope I can learn to treat others the same way. Thank you.