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4.54 AVERAGE
4.54 AVERAGE
Could not put this down. Loved the narration by the author, learned a lot of Spanish! I really felt like I was looking through this child's eyes. It was beautiful, and poetic, and heartbreaking. I want to find out if he reconnected with his second family. Beautiful, must read.
104: Solito by Javier Zamora
There is so much good to be said about this book. "Everyone" "should" read it. I know of few other books I have read that were so sincerely "good to the last drop (word)" as this one. There are so many gifts from the adult Javier to the reader who gets there, completing this entire journey with 9-year-old Javier.
A memoir Javier Zamora wrote years after his own experiences migrating from El Salvador to the USA, this book is simply stellar for so many reasons, a few detailed here.
The writing is top notch. For anyone who has studied Spanish, there will be an additional layer of satisfaction, as you will understand even better things I did not take time to translate, hoping that I caught the essence of it all either in context or in the little I do understand, either from my own learning or from similarities to French. The only word I looked up, for its being used so frequently and my uncertainty of its denotation was the word "tambien," really just "also" or "me, too." I even appreciate and "enjoyed" Zamora's continually punctuating questions--the ones in English as well--with the Spanish language's dual question marks. I liked that he hung onto that...and it sort of kept me grounded in the merging of his nine-year-old non-English speaking self and his adult writer self, speaking in both languages and even different iterations of Spanish from his home, through Mexico, and into the US.
The truth--all of the truths--of this story are soul-wrenching, gut-wrenching, and heart- and soul-lifting, tambien, and a thoughtful reader cannot help but empathize (yet thoughtless readers are unlikely to read the book anyway) with all that Javiercito experiences and learns and endures and...just all of it...on this challenging migration, at age nine, from El Salvador to the USA to be reunited with his parents and then live from then on in California. I was very, very much reminded of American Dirt, which I read years ago but still think of in all that it stirred, and yet that was fiction. Solito is truth...Zamora's own personal experiences. And I 100% endured it all...only vicariously, of course...in this week I spent slowly reading this book. It cannot--should not--be a "fast read" for anyone, as that would take away all that comes from living with Javier through these critical weeks of his childhood. I will always remember and keep associated with this book and Zamora's story the things I also went through this last week in very different struggles of my own--not for clean water or a bathroom or life and death things by any means--but struggling to teach and demand respectful behavior from teenagers who don't appreciate allllllll the privilege they have, even those who think their lives are quite rough. They have no idea, maybe 95% of them, how much tougher it could be.
Javier is not the main "character" but the author's own nine-year-old self, and yet he will grab onto your heart and have you rooting for him and all others who ever have or will endure in real life anything at all like his story. And additionally the fondness developed for all who come to the aid of Javier on this rigorous and challenging adventure and who become his "family" for this while will likely fill your tank as well, for Zamora nails right on the head that thing that many of us have experienced, which is becoming very close to people through shared situations or circumstances that forever change us as well as create friendships of a remarkably enduring variety, even when miles or loss of contact information prevent us from ever being as close again.
If you don't know what to get someone--anyone who is a willing reader--for an upcoming gift (and for sure you should be willing to gift yourself!) or your library hold list has room for an addition: get Solito now. If you already own it and have been waiting, I can fairly certainly promise you that this is the read you need right now to put you in the holiday spirit--both for appreciating what you have, sharing what you can, and considering all "others" for at least a little while.
Javier Zamora: it has been a true pleasure to "meet" you. I'll hold out hope that at some point in time I get to give you the big hug in person that I'd like to right now. Hearty congratulations on this remarkable writing accomplishment...sincerely.
There is so much good to be said about this book. "Everyone" "should" read it. I know of few other books I have read that were so sincerely "good to the last drop (word)" as this one. There are so many gifts from the adult Javier to the reader who gets there, completing this entire journey with 9-year-old Javier.
A memoir Javier Zamora wrote years after his own experiences migrating from El Salvador to the USA, this book is simply stellar for so many reasons, a few detailed here.
The writing is top notch. For anyone who has studied Spanish, there will be an additional layer of satisfaction, as you will understand even better things I did not take time to translate, hoping that I caught the essence of it all either in context or in the little I do understand, either from my own learning or from similarities to French. The only word I looked up, for its being used so frequently and my uncertainty of its denotation was the word "tambien," really just "also" or "me, too." I even appreciate and "enjoyed" Zamora's continually punctuating questions--the ones in English as well--with the Spanish language's dual question marks. I liked that he hung onto that...and it sort of kept me grounded in the merging of his nine-year-old non-English speaking self and his adult writer self, speaking in both languages and even different iterations of Spanish from his home, through Mexico, and into the US.
The truth--all of the truths--of this story are soul-wrenching, gut-wrenching, and heart- and soul-lifting, tambien, and a thoughtful reader cannot help but empathize (yet thoughtless readers are unlikely to read the book anyway) with all that Javiercito experiences and learns and endures and...just all of it...on this challenging migration, at age nine, from El Salvador to the USA to be reunited with his parents and then live from then on in California. I was very, very much reminded of American Dirt, which I read years ago but still think of in all that it stirred, and yet that was fiction. Solito is truth...Zamora's own personal experiences. And I 100% endured it all...only vicariously, of course...in this week I spent slowly reading this book. It cannot--should not--be a "fast read" for anyone, as that would take away all that comes from living with Javier through these critical weeks of his childhood. I will always remember and keep associated with this book and Zamora's story the things I also went through this last week in very different struggles of my own--not for clean water or a bathroom or life and death things by any means--but struggling to teach and demand respectful behavior from teenagers who don't appreciate allllllll the privilege they have, even those who think their lives are quite rough. They have no idea, maybe 95% of them, how much tougher it could be.
Javier is not the main "character" but the author's own nine-year-old self, and yet he will grab onto your heart and have you rooting for him and all others who ever have or will endure in real life anything at all like his story. And additionally the fondness developed for all who come to the aid of Javier on this rigorous and challenging adventure and who become his "family" for this while will likely fill your tank as well, for Zamora nails right on the head that thing that many of us have experienced, which is becoming very close to people through shared situations or circumstances that forever change us as well as create friendships of a remarkably enduring variety, even when miles or loss of contact information prevent us from ever being as close again.
If you don't know what to get someone--anyone who is a willing reader--for an upcoming gift (and for sure you should be willing to gift yourself!) or your library hold list has room for an addition: get Solito now. If you already own it and have been waiting, I can fairly certainly promise you that this is the read you need right now to put you in the holiday spirit--both for appreciating what you have, sharing what you can, and considering all "others" for at least a little while.
Javier Zamora: it has been a true pleasure to "meet" you. I'll hold out hope that at some point in time I get to give you the big hug in person that I'd like to right now. Hearty congratulations on this remarkable writing accomplishment...sincerely.
3.5 ⭐️
This book tells the terrible stories of people who sacrifice so much to better their lives. The author describes their long, harrowing walks and the atrocious conditions they lived in. I am left wondering what happened to the groups of people, especially on the second attempt, who were tired and thirsty? It was heartbreaking often to read this. It did drag in places, and I wonder how the author is able to remember the precise details and dates, when he is describing events 2 decades ago, especially as he hasn’t connected much with the others of “the 4” for help with the details. I was hoping for more info on how he created his timeline from memory in the author’s note. As others have noted, there is a lot of Spanish in this book. I know some and was able to understand much of it, but if you don’t have any Spanish language knowledge, it might be a problem.
This book tells the terrible stories of people who sacrifice so much to better their lives. The author describes their long, harrowing walks and the atrocious conditions they lived in. I am left wondering what happened to the groups of people, especially on the second attempt, who were tired and thirsty? It was heartbreaking often to read this. It did drag in places, and I wonder how the author is able to remember the precise details and dates, when he is describing events 2 decades ago, especially as he hasn’t connected much with the others of “the 4” for help with the details. I was hoping for more info on how he created his timeline from memory in the author’s note. As others have noted, there is a lot of Spanish in this book. I know some and was able to understand much of it, but if you don’t have any Spanish language knowledge, it might be a problem.
Incredible storytelling of the author's experience coming to the U.S. to be reunited with his parents, the emotional and physical trauma he and the others had to go through, and the process of becoming a second family with the people who were complete strangers to him at the beginning of the journey. I am amazed at the level of detail that Javier was able to incorporate into this book, and can only imagine the emotions that resurfaced as he dug into those memories.
I was surprisingly able to hold my tears in all the way to the end, only to finally break when the prose ended and he delineates the timeline of his journey and the little communication that his parents received about his whereabouts or condition- that part and the acknowledgments really hit home the magnitude of what he experienced. It's not just a story, it's real life for so many people, and as the author notes, there are many who never survive to tell their own version of this story.
I was surprisingly able to hold my tears in all the way to the end, only to finally break when the prose ended and he delineates the timeline of his journey and the little communication that his parents received about his whereabouts or condition- that part and the acknowledgments really hit home the magnitude of what he experienced. It's not just a story, it's real life for so many people, and as the author notes, there are many who never survive to tell their own version of this story.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Wow - this book leaves me almost speechless. Zamora writes in such detail of his experience at age 9 leaving El Salvador to come to the US that it feels like you are there with him feeling the heat and the dirt and the fear and the exhaustion. At times, my heart was racing alongside his. I’m so grateful for his vulnerability in telling this story with such honesty.
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
One of the most powerful books I have ever read. It is extremely emotional and at times difficult to read about all this 9 year old boy went through, but it is a must read.
A truly beautiful, gut wrenching, heartwarming story about the tremendous sacrifice families make in pursuit of the American dream.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced