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A review by lennareem
Solito by Javier Zamora
emotional
tense
fast-paced
5.0
As a young child, Javier's dad left El Salvador for the US. A few years later, his mom joined him. They try to get him a visa to come to the US, but for whatever reason, he was denied. Out of desperation to be reunited, his parents hire coyotes to bring him to the US.
The entire memoir is told by nine-year-old Javier over the course of a few months, from when he was preparing to leave to when he finally arrives in the US. This is what takes this memoir from good to incredible, as we get in the head of a frightened child whose life is in the hands of complete strangers. I didn't just read his story, I feel like I experienced it.
I learned so much from this book beyond what the trip through Central America and Mexico into the US entails. For example, Central Americans are discriminated against as they move north, especially through Mexico. The colorism that exists within these countries and cultures is more significant than I had realized, and it adds an additional barrier for many migrants to successfully enter the US.
Every step of their journey had different obstacles which made this incredibly suspenseful. If it weren't for the fact that I knew it had a somewhat happy ending (in that he made it to the US and became a successful writer), I would have had a hard time getting through it because it's so heavy. Every time I felt like I couldn't possibly read more because of how gut-wrenching it was, I had to remind myself that reading it is absolutely nothing like experiencing it first hand, and if a nine-year-old could survive this trip, I as an adult could survive reading about it.
Based on the popularity of American Dirt, a work of fiction about a Mexican mother & her child crossing the border, you would think that people are hungry for stories these stories. Unfortunately, Solito, while being a best seller, has garnered a small fraction of the attention that American Dirt did. This is an incredible shame because Solito is a true story, written by a Latino author who lived the experience, while American Dirt is a work of fiction by a non-Latino author.
This makes this memoir even more important. If you in any way value diverse stories written by people who lived them, buy this and read it. Because the only way publishers will be interested in these stories is if they make money.
If I still taught in a traditional high school, I would be either incorporating this book into my lessons or teaching it in its entirety. It's that good and important. I have read a lot of memoirs, and this is hands down one of the best I've ever read.
The entire memoir is told by nine-year-old Javier over the course of a few months, from when he was preparing to leave to when he finally arrives in the US. This is what takes this memoir from good to incredible, as we get in the head of a frightened child whose life is in the hands of complete strangers. I didn't just read his story, I feel like I experienced it.
I learned so much from this book beyond what the trip through Central America and Mexico into the US entails. For example, Central Americans are discriminated against as they move north, especially through Mexico. The colorism that exists within these countries and cultures is more significant than I had realized, and it adds an additional barrier for many migrants to successfully enter the US.
Every step of their journey had different obstacles which made this incredibly suspenseful. If it weren't for the fact that I knew it had a somewhat happy ending (in that he made it to the US and became a successful writer), I would have had a hard time getting through it because it's so heavy. Every time I felt like I couldn't possibly read more because of how gut-wrenching it was, I had to remind myself that reading it is absolutely nothing like experiencing it first hand, and if a nine-year-old could survive this trip, I as an adult could survive reading about it.
Based on the popularity of American Dirt, a work of fiction about a Mexican mother & her child crossing the border, you would think that people are hungry for stories these stories. Unfortunately, Solito, while being a best seller, has garnered a small fraction of the attention that American Dirt did. This is an incredible shame because Solito is a true story, written by a Latino author who lived the experience, while American Dirt is a work of fiction by a non-Latino author.
This makes this memoir even more important. If you in any way value diverse stories written by people who lived them, buy this and read it. Because the only way publishers will be interested in these stories is if they make money.
If I still taught in a traditional high school, I would be either incorporating this book into my lessons or teaching it in its entirety. It's that good and important. I have read a lot of memoirs, and this is hands down one of the best I've ever read.