The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Alvarez, Julia. Return to Sender. Yearling, 2009. Kindle Edition.

Return to Sender is a realistic fiction middle grade novel written by Julia Alvarez about the plight of illegal immigrants and those who employ them. It was written in 2009 and was set in the year, 2005. There are two main protagonists in this novel: Mari Cruz and Tyler Paquette. Tyler’s story is told from the third person perspective, and Mari’s is told in her own words through either her letters or her diary entries. Because the characters are friends and live in close proximity to each other, their stories overlap significantly. The novel is set almost exclusively in Vermont on the farm of the Paquette family, but numerous references are made to both Mexico and Carolina del Norte, North Carolina.

When the novel opens, the Cruz family is living in a trailer on the Paquette’s unnamed farm. The Paquettes were about to lose their farm because they do not have enough workers once Gramps died and Mr. Paquette had a serious farm accident. To stay on the land, they have decided to hire the Cruzes. The Cruz family showed the Paquettes documents saying they are in the country legally, but the Paquettes understand that the Cruzes are probably not documented. Tyler is upset by this at first because he has been raised to respect the laws of the country, and now his parents are helping the Cruzes break the law by employing them.

Mari is the oldest of the three Cruz girls who live in the trailer, and she is the only one of the three girls who is not an American citizen. She takes care of her sisters and also serves as an interpreter for the elders in her life. She goes to school with Tyler. They have a bumpy relationship at first, but they grow to be friends. She writes letters to her mother who has been missing ever since she tried to sneak back in the United States after returning to Mexico when her mother died. Mari faces some discrimination at school, but she also makes friends. She speaks both Spanish and English.

The Cruz family finds out that Mrs. Cruz is being held by smugglers for ransom. Mari and Tyler along with some of Tyler’s family members go to North Carolina with ransom money. Mari goes alone out to the van holding her mother and gets the woman freed. Her mother, however, has been traumatized by the events of her captivity and takes quite some time to recover. Mr. Cruz becomes angry after Mrs. Cruz returns because he was not able to protect her from the trauma she suffered at the hands of the smugglers.

While Mrs. Cruz is still recovering emotionally, the adults are captured by immigration officials who believe Mrs. Cruz was part of the smuggling scheme. Tyler’s grandma who has already befriended the Cruz girls takes them to Mr. Rossetti’s house to keep them safe. Mari goes to immigration officials and tells them the true story of what happened to her mother and why her father resisted arrest. This takes much bravery because she has to admit to being an illegal immigrant. Officials release her mother pending an immigration hearing. The adults are deported back to Mexico, and the children go with them. They all plan to stay in Mexico until they can immigrate to the United States legally in ten years when Ofie, Mari’s next oldest sister and an American citizen, can sponsor them. Through working with Tyler’s uncle, the Paquettes find a way to keep the farm in the family. Tyler and Mari become good friends through all of this, and Grandma and Mr. Rossetti make numerous trips to Mexico to help the people there.