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loryyyy's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Deportation
sarahweyand's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
I am so grateful for the literary award Storygraph challenge I created, because it introduces me to wonderful books like this that I might not have picked up otherwise. This is a beautifully written, insightful, heartbreaking memoir. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, and I think it adds a lot to the experience; I would highly recommend. I seriously couldn't tell if this book was written in verse or prose, especially with Zamora's narration. I loved it.
This is certainly a long story, and parts of it felt a little slow, but you can't really critique how someone's real life played out, pacing-wise. The high-stakes moments were tense and elicited physical reactions from me, which I always commend when a book is able to do so. I loved the inclusions of so much Spanish, and I thought the choice to tell the narrative from the POV of Zamora as a child with no input from his adult self really enhanced the plot.
This is a wonderful book. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
This is certainly a long story, and parts of it felt a little slow, but you can't really critique how someone's real life played out, pacing-wise. The high-stakes moments were tense and elicited physical reactions from me, which I always commend when a book is able to do so. I loved the inclusions of so much Spanish, and I thought the choice to tell the narrative from the POV of Zamora as a child with no input from his adult self really enhanced the plot.
This is a wonderful book. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deportation
ladypolf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Deportation
Moderate: Xenophobia, Vomit, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, and Confinement
Minor: Excrement, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and War
rayannotates's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement, Violence, Racism, Dysphoria, Deportation, Vomit, and Confinement
lorit1227's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deportation
cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deportation
knkoch's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I read this for a local book club focused on race and own-voices writing on various BIPOC experiences in the US. This is such a well-made book and I’m glad it was selected.
Javier Zamora writes here of his journey from El Salvador to the US, and as a white American whose citizenship has never been front of mind, I really needed to read this account. Zamora was born the same year I was and made this trek at age 9, so it was uncomfortably easy to think back on myself at the same age, during the same era, and attempt to place my child-self in his shoes.
I liked that Zamora wrote from the perspective of his childhood mindset during the journey, as it fully embedded me in his experience. It must have been challenging, both in terms of the trauma he had to relive and the difficulty in recounting so much detail. He travels unaccompanied by relatives, but his relationships with the people in his group are moving and provide a sense of the adult experience, too.
This was dramatic without exaggeration, painful, visceral, unforgettable, and yet something untold thousands of people have gone through and are still going through. Truly a book everyone (especially US citizens) should bear witness to, and the kind of account that should foster deep, human empathy for an experience too often flattened into an impersonal political conflict.
Javier Zamora writes here of his journey from El Salvador to the US, and as a white American whose citizenship has never been front of mind, I really needed to read this account. Zamora was born the same year I was and made this trek at age 9, so it was uncomfortably easy to think back on myself at the same age, during the same era, and attempt to place my child-self in his shoes.
I liked that Zamora wrote from the perspective of his childhood mindset during the journey, as it fully embedded me in his experience. It must have been challenging, both in terms of the trauma he had to relive and the difficulty in recounting so much detail. He travels unaccompanied by relatives, but his relationships with the people in his group are moving and provide a sense of the adult experience, too.
This was dramatic without exaggeration, painful, visceral, unforgettable, and yet something untold thousands of people have gone through and are still going through. Truly a book everyone (especially US citizens) should bear witness to, and the kind of account that should foster deep, human empathy for an experience too often flattened into an impersonal political conflict.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Xenophobia, Excrement, and Sexual harassment
This is a migrant story, with brutal travels through the desert. Medical trauma/children suffering:caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, Xenophobia, Deportation, Abandonment, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Vomit
simplythegirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.5
If you'd like an authentic story about an immigrant's journey crossing the border than this book is it! There are similar books out there that are all just trauma p*rn but Javier Zamora really encompasses the beauty along with the hardship that he endured on his journey. His perspective of a kid also makes the whole thing very heartwrenching cute heartwarming and scary at the same time. There was a sense of community and a sense of loss but also victory when he reaches the USA. It's such a touching and sweet story but also very nerve-wracking and scary because of the stakes. I absolutely loved this book. This is super relatable in terms of culture for me even though I never went through what the author did the culture is what we share so that was really fun. There's also some sweet and light humor that flows pretty nicely. The book definitely explores the importance of family and what it means to be a family. If you are not a spanish speaker I would definitely keep a piece of paper and make a key for the spanish words because they come up a lot. I'm a Spanish speaker so it wasn't something I dealt with but others may. It definitely is worth a read.
there is some cursing, violence, guns, blood, vomit, other bodily fluids, and abuse so read with caution.
there is some cursing, violence, guns, blood, vomit, other bodily fluids, and abuse so read with caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Vomit, Racism, War, and Deportation
Moderate: Gun violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, and Death
Minor: Death, Child abuse, and Body shaming
librabby's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Colonisation, and Deportation