Javier Zamora

An incredibly amazing book - what this boy encounters (and what many migrants crossing the US border) is fuel for nightmares, and I suspect most people's experiences are way worst.

Its very easy to dismiss the plight of people coming from a place of violence or extreme poverty as an American with all the securities it brings. Even knowing that its a dangerous journey, that many people die, this book hits at the heart. While i hope to never experience this, and will never understand what the show more emotional and physical strain that it takes, this book allowed me to be in a migrant on a difficult journey, even if its for a few hours while sitting on a couch.

The story is from the experience of a 9 year old boy, as he remembers it a number of years later. Javier is a sweet kid, smart, innocent, and unprepared for this journey. Javier is an innocent in his world, I suspect that some readers missed what was happening in this village, a few murders of young men, and gangs. There is also extreme poverty with no way to become more. If Javier and his family didn't leave, Javier probably would have been recruited into a gang, or worst. Its damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

As for the story - it is incredible. Written from the point of view as a child allowed the 'adult' stuff to stay in the back. You don't find out why Javier is sent, or how the Coyotes keep their flock safe with bribes. However, what Javier thinks and sees is described, his confusion at what is happening, the boredom of waiting in a small apartment, the scariness of a helicopter patrol, the lack of privacy. The scariness of the strangers. I was so excited when Javier crossed the border - than I realized I still had half a book to go. My heart sunk at that point, this poor kid and his 'fake' family, just trying to get to home to their family.

The one thing I do want to mention is that there is Spanish, most you can pick up from the context or emotion. I thought it added to the story - it was used to heighten the story.

Highly recommended. show less

I just now finished reading Solito and can't stop crying.

It was such a powerful story, but it called to mind that each undocumented Salvadoran immigrant's story is much like this one with all of its suffering and pain in an effort to reach a better life with or for loved ones. This memoir was particularly brutal because it was told in excruciating detail by the author who was recalling his being smuggled into the United States "solito" (without anyone he knew) by coyotes when he was only show more nine years old.

To me, this is an important work because I don't think enough Americans are aware of how hard Salvadorans struggle for themselves and their families when they ultimately decide to make that ardous journey as an undocumented immigrant into the United States at any age.

I loved that the book was written with sprinklings of Salvadoran Spanish and culture throughout. As my husband's niece expressed to me today..."My heart soared every time there was a little nugget of Salvadoran culture or language. It was like our own little inside joke." I absolutely agree with her. show less

Javier was nine when he left El Salvador with six strangers and a "coyote" who was supposed to convey them safely to the US. His parents had had to flee to the States during the Salvadorian war, and he had been living with his grandparents and aunt. The trip was supposed to take two weeks, but his family was not to hear from him for almost two months. The story of his journey is harrowing, touching, and a testament to both the horrific nature of migration to the US and the humanity to be show more found in the most unlikely places. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Note: The author uses a lot of Spanish in the book, not only to emphasize context, but also to show how difficult it is for people of different cultures and languages to understand one another. Javier and his group spent a lot of time trying to sound Mexican, for instance, and sometimes failing with disastrous results. Although I often understood the gist of the Spanish, I did find myself using a translation app fairly frequently. Not surprisingly, even that failed to convey the meaning of much of the slang. The frustration I felt was a gnat bite compared to the desperation migrants feel when trying to understand immigration officials. show less

Javier Zamora lived his first nine years in El Salvador with his grandparents after his parents fled to the U.S. as a result of the Salvadorian civil war. He doesn't even remember his father, who left when he was one, and then four years later, his mother followed. They've told him for years that he will come to them, and after trying to legally immigrate and then bend the truth, eventually he is sent, alone, with a group of migrants and a coyote who promises to get them to the United show more States.

This is simply an incredible, moving, riveting and intense story. Javier's memories of what happened during the journey in 1999 had me on the edge of my seat from the moment his grandfather left and he was on his own, with each change in plans to the challenges of the journey, the fear and terror but also the kindness of strangers he met along the way. I was glad I read the e-book, as it made it a little easier to translate some of the Spanish, and though some of the colloquial words and phrases weren't to be found in the dictionary, I could generally follow the meaning anyway. Highly recommended. show less