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 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. ( )

Recommended by sudi

Read over half in 2023. Library loan ended; finished in Jan 2024. ( )

[4.5] If a reader sheds no tears after experiencing this harrowing adventure of a nine-year-old boy's grueling migration from El Salvador to the U.S., perhaps a cardiac specialist should be consulted to make sure nothing is missing. Zamora shines a glaring spotlight on an important and incredibly timely topic, chronicling an emotional, heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting saga. My only minor issue: I agree with some reviewers who have red-flagged redundancies. The literary "minimalist" in me thinks this incredible story could have been a solid 5-star narrative with some judicious editing. Less can be more. Then again, Zamora's brave and brilliant effort to accurately recount his 3,000-mile odyssey may not have been as authentic had the Word Police dictated a shorter tome. I loved "Solito." Well done, Javier. ( )

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 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. ( )