In honor of Hispanic Heritage month, this month our book club picked, Solito, by Javier Zamora. This memoir captures Javier’s 7-week journey from El Salvador to “La USA” and EVERYTHING in between – as a nine year old. He recalls the struggles, pockets of relief, things he had to learn quickly, and struggles he would encounter along the way. All of this while being solito – since, because of various circumstances, his parents had already made the journey and waiting for him in California. A reminder to the reader, even the “pockets of relief” in this journey as a nine year old are “pockets of relief” given the situation.
The events that took place during the journey are as 9-year old Javier remembers them, which might be a very different reality for many of the adults there…So, as you read, keep this boy in mind:
A beautiful yet distraight story that he and millions more go through every year. I highly encourage everyone to read his story!
Here is a fun playlist of some of the songs mentioned throughout the book:
The following playlist was actually put together by Javier himself (probably as motivational music):