Solito: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Memoir

At age nine, Javier Zamora undertook a three-thousand-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador through Guatemala and Mexico to the U.S. border, traveling alone with a group of strangers and a coyote hired to guide them. He left behind his aunt and grandparents to reunite with his mother, who had left four years earlier, and his father, whom he barely remembered. What he expected to last two weeks became a two-month odyssey involving perilous boat trips, desert treks, armed encounters, arrests, and deceptions. This memoir documents Zamora's migration experience and the unexpected family formed among fellow migrants. The account captures both the treacherous conditions of the journey and moments of kindness and love that emerged during it. Zamora's story reflects the experiences of millions of others forced to leave home. The book won the Los Angeles Times Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiography and the American Library Association Alex Award. It was a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick and appeared on year-end best books lists from The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Vulture, She Reads, and Kirkus Reviews.