Summer of the Mariposas

When their mother is forced to work to support the family, the Garza sisters enjoy a summer of unsupervised freedom in which their most cherished activity is swimming in the Rio Grande. To them, the river symbolizes freedom, and protagonist Odilia compares the sisters to the river-dwelling nymphs of Greek myth: “We splashed around in that cold, clear water like river nymphs, born to swim and bathe till the end of days” (4). When the body of Gabriel Pérdido floats into their midst, it signals the end of their carefree summer and reminds them that this particular river—as a natural border between the United States and Mexico—is a site of political tension and human suffering: “The waters of the Rio Grande were dangerous, and Mamá wouldn’t care that our swimming hole seemed safe to me. How many times had we heard of drowning victims turning up on its banks” (6). Odilia’s younger sister Juanita argues they should not call the authorities to report the body, as doing so would mean an increase in Border Patrol activity, thus endangering their community. In accepting Juanita’s argument, the sisters collectively shift toward an adult understanding of the border—one in which they recognize its complex politics and seek to protect the transnational community it often harms.

The Garza family lives in the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, where author Guadalupe Garcia McCall grew up. In the most recent census, 96% of Eagle Pass residents identified as Latinx (though the census itself uses the outdated term “Hispanic”). This Latinx population includes recent migrants as well as many families who have lived in the area since before it became part of the United States in the mid-19th century. Directly across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass is the Mexican town of Piedras Negras, where the Garza sisters deliver the body of Gabriel Pérdido. For many people, these two cities are essentially one, with the heavily policed US-Mexico border forming an artificial dividing line in what is an otherwise cohesive world—separating families and interrupting economic networks. McCall herself embodies the transnational character of the region: She was born in Piedras Negras and lived there until age six, when her family relocated to Eagle Pass.

Because of its proximity to the border, Eagle Pass has become a flashpoint for political battles over border policy in recent years. In 2024, Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas National Guard to take control of Shelby Park, a popular park in Eagle Pass that borders the Rio Grande. The Texas National Guard has blocked federal agents from accessing this stretch of the border. Over the objections of the federal government, Texas authorities have used submerged razor wire to prevent migrants from crossing the border, which has led to at least three deaths of migrants trying to cross the river. Summer of the Mariposas depicts the Rio Grande Valley as a cohesive, transnational world in which the border exists as a politically fraught and often violent disruption. In the decade since the book was published in 2012, this violence has only worsened.