Solito by Javier Zamora (audiobook)

 genre: memoir

Javier's life in El Salvador is familiar and full of the love and drama of his extended family. But, as a nine year old, it's missing one crucial thing: his parents. His mother and father have already made the journey to the United States and Javier LONGS to be with them. When his time finally comes to join up with the coyote, there are a thousand unknowns and only one certain thing: he is going alone. Of course, there is a group of people traveling together and technically the coyote is in "charge" of him but Javier will be without any of his trusted people. Just him and his backpack and the knowledge his grandfather helped him to memorize.

This story. MY HEART. I cannot imagine sending my child on such a trek, I know his parents must've been so desperate to be reunited with him. Our author is a poet, and it shows - it SHINES. It's so raw and vulnerable, you just want to take this nine year old out of this harrowing experience and make him feel safe and cared for. What makes it all okay is the family he creates around him as he travels north by car/van/boat/foot. It's exhausting just reading about how challenging it was, physically and emotionally. No one is doing this for fun. I felt so much compassion for EVERYONE migrating but most especially those who took Javier under their wing despite all their own trauma and hardships. People can be horrible, yes. We see that. But also, people can do exactly the right thing at the right time and it can mean EVERYTHING.

I am so glad I did the audio. I loved listening to the Spanish - and there is a LOT. He doesn't always translate it for us and so we use context and sometimes just feel a tiny bit lost. Like Javier did. But it's worth it. Sometimes I struggle with memoirs with a lot of dialogue, but this flowed so well as a story. Highly recommended reading.