The series of Los Angeles Times articles that was the genesis of the book won more than 20 journalism awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.[3]
Don Bartletti won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for the photographs he took for the Los Angeles Times series, which are also featured in the book.[8]
Enrique's Journey has won both the 2006 Christopher Award[9] and the 2006 California Book Award[10] in Recognition of Literary Excellence, Silver Medal. It has been adopted by over 100 universities as their freshman or common read.[11] In 2015, it was one of the most popular choices for a common read, according to a survey by Inside Higher Ed.[12]
In 2014, Enrique's Journey was listed as number one on a list of the top ten best non-fiction books on The Latino Author.[13]
Enrique's Journey has been chosen as a common or freshman read by over 200 middle schools, high schools, and universities nationwide.[14] Facing History & Ourselves developed a six-week unit teaching guide to accompany the young adult version of the book.[15]