Awards

• Winner of Alex Awards 2023

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9780593498064

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Reviews

A gripping memoir... Solito is special for many reasons, but the main one is Zamora's voice and the energy of his vivid retelling of his journey . . . And that makes it required reading. -Gabino Iglesias, NPR Zamora . . . recounts in absorbing detail the dangerous, weekslong journey he took from El Salvador to reunite with his parents in the United States when he was just 9. -The New York Times The magic of this book lies not only in the beguiling voice of young Javier, or the harrowing journey and immense bravery of the migrants, or in the built-in hero's journey of this narrative. It's hard to reconcile the fact that this book hasn't always been with us. How can something so essential and fundamental to the American story not already be part of our canon? -San Francisco Chronicle An important, beautiful work. -The New York Times Book Review Zamora's [Solito] is a distinctly American memoir, and he tells a distinctly American story. -The Nation A monumental accomplishment. -Oprah Daily Crafted with stunning intimacy . . . you'll feel so close to the boy [Zamora] was then that you'll think about him long after the book is done. It's impossible not to feel both immersed in and changed by this extraordinary book. -Los Angeles Times Solito is a stone-cold masterpiece, an absolute masterpiece. I know I used that word twice. That's how you know I mean it. -Emma Straub A riveting tale of perseverance and the lengths humans will go to help each other in times of struggle. With [Solito], Javier Zamora arrives to the forefront of essential American voices. -Dave Eggers What Javier Zamora has accomplished in Solito feels miraculous. This is a pitch-perfect recapturing of the voice, consciousness, and emotions of [Zamora's] nine-year-old self. -Francisco Goldman An instant classic. . . Javier Zamora has elevated the 'child migrant story' to new literary heights. -Jose Antonio Vargas A new landmark in the literature of migration, and in nonfiction writ large. -Francisco Cantu, author of The Line Becomes a River In luminous prose . . . with tenderness and searing honesty Zamora writes, for the first time, a Salvadoran account of what it takes to reach the border, cross it on foot, and survive. I cannot recommend this book enough, nor overstate its accomplishment. -Carolyn Forche Solito is a revelation. -Daniel Alarcon [A] beautifully wrought work that renders the migrant experience into a vivid, immediately accessible portrayal. -Kirkus Review (starred review) A stirring portrait of the power of human connection . . . an immensely moving story. -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

By chronicling the journey of his nine-year-old self in beautiful, painstaking verisimilitude, Javier Zamora has elevated the 'child migrant story' to new literary heights. -Jose Antonio Vargas, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, founder of Define American, and bestselling author of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen This is a magnificent book. Clearly written by a poet, it puts the reader viscerally through every moment of Javier Zamora's epic journey. Every character is rendered with boundless care and love, and the result is not a book you should feel required to read but should rush to for a gorgeous, riveting tale of perseverance and the lengths humans will go to help one another in times of struggle. With this book, Zamora arrives at the forefront of essential American voices. -Dave Eggers, author of The Circle and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Javier Zamora ventures through the fog of memory to reconstruct coastlines and jungles, deserts and drop houses, vividly conjuring the humanity and resilience that marked his childhood migration. As he journeys along the fraught desire lines that crisscross our continent, traversing borders that grow into evermore violent monsters, his story becomes that of a modern-day Odysseus in child form. Solito is at once blistering and tender, devastating and affirming-it is, quite simply, a revelation, a new landmark in the literature of migration, and in nonfiction writ large. -Francisco Cantu, New York Times bestselling author of The Line Becomes a River I have waited for a memoir like Solito for decades. -Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street If there's any justice, Solito will someday be considered a classic. -Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind Solito is a revelation, beautifully written, keenly observed. This powerful and searing memoir will stay with you long after the last page. -Daniel Alarcon, author of The King Is Always Above the People, co-founder and host of Radio Ambulante, and MacArthur Fellow In Solito: A Memoir, Javier Zamora uncannily and brilliantly replicates his journey as a child traveling alone from El Salvador to his parents in the United States. In luminous prose, in harrowing and fierce detail, with tenderness and searing honesty he writes, for the first time, a Salvadoran account what it takes to reach the border, cross it on foot, and survive. Zamora chisels each moment into sharp relief, awakening us in the desert at daybreak, flooding our imagination with all that is seen and felt: every footfall, every sip of the last water left. His child narrator is shy, grave, acutely perceptive, still on the threshold, and already preternaturally wise. I cannot recommend this book enough, nor overstate its accomplishment. -Carolyn Forche, author of What You Have Heard is True, finalist for the National Book Award

Perhaps only a poet could invoke the fear and beauty of a migrant's voyage. A witness who lived the story is essential to gain credibility. A child is necessary to summon compassion. This is the mythic journey of our era, told by a hero not old enough to tie his shoes, an oracle for our troubled times. I have waited decades for a memoir like Solito. -Sandra Cisneros This is a magnificent book. Clearly written by a poet, it puts the reader viscerally through every moment of Javier Zamora's epic journey. Every character is rendered with boundless care and love, and the result is not a book you should feel required to read but should rush to for a gorgeous, riveting tale of perseverance and the lengths humans will go to help one another in times of struggle. With this book, Zamora arrives at the forefront of essential American voices. -Dave Eggers, author of The Circle and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius If there's any justice, Solito will someday be considered a classic. -Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind Javier Zamora ventures through the fog of memory to reconstruct coastlines and jungles, deserts and drop houses, vividly conjuring the humanity and resilience that marked his childhood migration. Solito is at once blistering and tender, devastating and affirming-it is, quite simply, a revelation, a new landmark in the literature of migration, and in nonfiction writ large. -Francisco Cantu, New York Times bestselling author of The Line Becomes a River What Javier Zamora has accomplished in Solito feels miraculous....Through his innocent eyes it's as if we discover human and institutional ugliness for the first time, but also kindness, perseverance, and love. What an observant, tender sense of character this little boy narrator possesses, and what a magical eye! This book fills me with wonder and awe! -Francisco Goldman, New York Times bestselling author of Monkey Boy In Solito: A Memoir, Javier Zamora uncannily and brilliantly replicates his journey as a child traveling alone from El Salvador to his parents in the United States. In luminous prose, in harrowing and fierce detail, with tenderness and searing honesty he writes, for the first time, a Salvadoran account what it takes to reach the border, cross it on foot, and survive. I cannot recommend this book enough, nor overstate its accomplishment. -Carolyn Forche, author of What You Have Heard Is True, finalist for the National Book Award By chronicling the journey of his nine-year-old self in beautiful, painstaking verisimilitude, Javier Zamora has elevated the 'child migrant story' to new literary heights. -Jose Antonio Vargas, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, founder of Define American, and bestselling author of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen A stirring portrait of the power of human connection . . . an immensely moving story. -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Perhaps only a poet could invoke the fear and beauty of a migrant's voyage. A witness who lived the story is essential to gain credibility. A child is necessary to summon compassion. This is the mythic journey of our era, told by a hero not old enough to tie his shoes, an oracle for our troubled times. I have waited decades for a memoir like Solito. -Sandra Cisneros This is a magnificent book. Clearly written by a poet, it puts the reader viscerally through every moment of Javier Zamora's epic journey. Every character is rendered with boundless care and love, and the result is not a book you should feel required to read but should rush to for a gorgeous, riveting tale of perseverance and the lengths humans will go to help one another in times of struggle. With this book, Zamora arrives at the forefront of essential American voices. -Dave Eggers, author of The Circle and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius If there's any justice, Solito will someday be considered a classic. -Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind Javier Zamora ventures through the fog of memory to reconstruct coastlines and jungles, deserts and drop houses, vividly conjuring the humanity and resilience that marked his childhood migration. As he journeys along the fraught desire lines that crisscross our continent, traversing borders that grow into evermore violent monsters, his story becomes that of a modern-day Odysseus in child form. Solito is at once blistering and tender, devastating and affirming-it is, quite simply, a revelation, a new landmark in the literature of migration, and in nonfiction writ large. -Francisco Cantu, New York Times bestselling author of The Line Becomes a River What Javier Zamora has accomplished in Solito feels miraculous....Through his innocent eyes it's as if we discover human and institutional ugliness for the first time, but also kindness, perseverance, and love. What an observant, tender sense of character this little boy narrator possesses, and what a magical eye! This book fills me with wonder and awe! -Francisco Goldman, New York Times bestselling author of Monkey Boy In Solito: A Memoir, Javier Zamora uncannily and brilliantly replicates his journey as a child traveling alone from El Salvador to his parents in the United States. In luminous prose, in harrowing and fierce detail, with tenderness and searing honesty he writes, for the first time, a Salvadoran account what it takes to reach the border, cross it on foot, and survive. I cannot recommend this book enough, nor overstate its accomplishment. -Carolyn Forche, author of What You Have Heard is True, finalist for the National Book Award By chronicling the journey of his nine-year-old self in beautiful, painstaking verisimilitude, Javier Zamora has elevated the 'child migrant story' to new literary heights. -Jose Antonio Vargas, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, founder of Define American, and bestselling author of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

Author Information

Javier Zamora was born in El Salvador in 1990. His father fled the country when he was one, and his mother when he was about to turn five. Both parents’ migrations were caused by the U.S.-funded Salvadoran Civil War. When he was nine Javier migrated through Guatemala, Mexico, and the Sonoran Desert. His debut poetry collection, Unaccompanied, explores the impact of the war and immigration on his family. Zamora has been a Stegner Fellow at Stanford and a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard and holds fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

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