Hurdles in the Dark

My Story of Survival, Resilience, and Triumph

By: Elvira K. Gonzalez

Narrated by: Elvira K. Gonzalez

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

This program is read by the author and includes music written by Ernesto Villalobos, Alberto Villalobos, Luis Villalobos and Humberto Flores, and performed by the Villalobos Brothers.

Educated meets Athlete A in this YA memoir about survival and strength by Elvira Gonzalez, a Mexican-American track star who found freedom from poverty and violence by becoming one of the top U.S. athletes.

Twenty-four hours: that's how long fourteen-year-old Elvira Gonzalez is given to come up with the $40,000 she needs to save her kidnapped mother from a drug cartel. It's 2006 and Elvira's hometown of Laredo, Texas, has become engulfed by the Mexican Drug War. Elvira's life is unraveling around her—setting her on a harrowing path that leads her to being locked up in one of South Texas's worst juvenile detention centers.

After Elvira's released from juvie, she's resolved to never go back. That's when her unexpected salvation arrives in the form of 33-inch-high plastic hurdles. Determined to win a track scholarship out of Laredo, Elvira begins breaking into the school, alone, at 5:30 in the morning to practice hurdling. Soon, she catches the attention of a renowned high school coach, an adult man in his 30s. As they train, their coach-student relationship begins to change, becoming sexual. At just seventeen years old, Elvira experiences the dangers many young athletes face, especially those who are marginalized. In spite of these towering obstacles, Elvira eventually propels herself to become one of the top ranked hurdlers in the USA and the first in her family to go to college.

This inspiring true story of grit, tenacity, and hope traces Elvira's path as she overcomes impossible hurdles in her race to freedom.

A Macmillan Audio production from Roaring Brook Press.

©2024 Elvira K. Gonzalez (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

The last quarter of book is good

I truly enjoyed the last quarter of this book. I wasnt able to appreciate it being written in present tense until that point. I wouldn't have spent so much time dealing with the kidnapping, or response to the kidnapping I should say.

I feel that it was obvious the mother hung out with less-than-savory people considering where she worked and how she "brought the party home" according to the author. It just seemed so unbelievable to me. And then for barely a mention of "oh her friends ended up being involved."

A more experienced writer could have adjusted her timeline I think. From reading the description of the book, I would have thought the sexual abuse was the focal point of the book. In her afterword, which is too long, and also the fault of the tense she chose to write in, she explains that she didn't want to include that part in her book and I think it shows. I wanted more details. She skips over parts that may be a result of editing but I wanted more.

I personally could have done without a lot of the childhood stuff. I don't think it was her intention to make South Texas culture look bad but she did. Some of the words she used are not used such as Barrio. No one says that here and she repeats it incessantly.

I loved the mention of the Northside and Southside. Laredo is extremely divided. She talks about colorism and likens it to a caste system which I find extremely accurate.

She doesn't ever really speak Spanish just texmex and slang. Some of it seems outdated considering the years she's discussing.

I loved that she exposed the district but again a lot of this is covered in her Afterword and not technically part of the story she's telling.

Tremendous work

This is a must read for any age. The story is compelling and makes you think critically in so many ways.