New York Times Bestseller - Read With Jenna Book Club Pick as seen
on Today - Winner of the Los Angeles Times Christopher Isherwood
Prize for Autobiography - Winner of the American Library Association
Alex Award
A young poet tells the inspiring story of his migration from El Salvador
to the United States at the age of nine in this "gripping memoir" (NPR)
of bravery, hope, and finding family.
Finalist for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction -
One of the New York Public Library's Ten Best Books of the Year
Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence and the
PEN/Open Book Award
"I read Solito with my heart in my throat and did not burst into tears
until the last sentence. What a person, what a writer, what a
book."--Emma Straub
"A riveting tale of perseverance and the lengths humans will go to
help each other in times of struggle."--Dave Eggers
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review,
NPR, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Vulture, She Reads,
Kirkus Reviews
Trip. My parents started using that word about a year ago--"one day,
you'll take a trip to be with us. Like an adventure."
Javier Zamora's adventure is a three-thousand-mile journey from his
small town in El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico, and across the
U.S. border. He will leave behind his beloved aunt and grandparents to
reunite with a mother who left four years ago and a father he barely
remembers. Traveling alone amid a group of strangers and a "coyote"
hired to lead them to safety, Javier expects his trip to last two short
weeks.
At nine years old, all Javier can imagine is rushing into his parents'
arms, snuggling in bed between them, and living under the same roof
again. He cannot foresee the perilous boat trips, relentless desert
treks, pointed guns, arrests and deceptions that await him; nor can he
know that those two weeks will expand into two life-altering months
alongside fellow migrants who will come to encircle him like an
unexpected family.
A memoir as gripping as it is moving, Solito provides an immediate and
intimate account not only of a treacherous and near-impossible journey,
but also of the miraculous kindness and love delivered at the most
unexpected moments. Solito is Javier Zamora's story, but it's also the
story of millions of others who had no choice but to leave home.
