New York Times Bestseller • Read With Jenna Book Club Pick as seen on Today • Winner of the Los
Angeles Times Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiography • Winner of the American Library
Association Alex AwardA young poet tells the inspiring story of his migration from El Salvador
to the United States at the age of nine in this gripping memoir” (NPR) of bravery hope and
finding family. Finalist for the PEN John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction • One of the
New York Public Library’s Ten Best Books of the Year Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal
for Excellence and the PEN Open Book AwardI read Solito with my heart in my throat and did not
burst into tears until the last sentence. What a person what a writer what a book.”—Emma
Straub A riveting tale of perseverance and the lengths humans will go to help each other in
times of struggle.”—Dave EggersONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book
Review NPR The Washington Post San Francisco Chronicle Vulture She Reads Kirkus Reviews
Trip. My parents started using that word about a year ago—one day you’ll take a trip to be
with us. Like an adventure.” Javier Zamora’s adventure is a three-thousand-mile journey from
his small town in El Salvador through Guatemala and Mexico and across the U.S. border. He
will leave behind his beloved aunt and grandparents to reunite with a mother who left four
years ago and a father he barely remembers. Traveling alone amid a group of strangers and a
coyote” hired to lead them to safety Javier expects his trip to last two short weeks. At nine
years old all Javier can imagine is rushing into his parents’ arms snuggling in bed between
them and living under the same roof again. He cannot foresee the perilous boat trips
relentless desert treks pointed guns arrests and deceptions that await him nor can he know
that those two weeks will expand into two life-altering months alongside fellow migrants who
will come to encircle him like an unexpected family. A memoir as gripping as it is moving
Solito provides an immediate and intimate account not only of a treacherous and near-impossible
journey but also of the miraculous kindness and love delivered at the most unexpected moments.
Solito is Javier Zamora’s story but it’s also the story of millions of others who had no
choice but to leave home.
