Solito, Solita: Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America

Description

They are a mass migration of thousands, yet each one travels alone. Solito, Solita (Alone, Alone), shortlisted for the 2019 Juan E. Mendez Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America, is an urgent collection of oral histories that tells-in their own words-the story of young refugees fleeing countries in Central America and traveling for hundreds of miles to seek safety and protection in the United States. Fifteen narrators describe why they fled their homes, what happened on their dangerous journeys through Mexico, how they crossed the borders, and for some, their ongoing struggles to survive in the United States. In an era of fear, xenophobia, and outright lies, these stories amplify the compelling voices of migrant youth. What can they teach us about abuse and abandonment, bravery and resilience, hypocrisy and hope? They bring us into their hearts and onto streets filled with the lure of freedom and fraught with violence. From fending off kidnappers with knives and being locked in freezing holding cells to tearful reunions with parents, Solito, Solita's narrators bring to light the experiences of young people struggling for a better life across the border. This collection includes the story of Adrian, from Guatemala City, whose mother was shot to death before his eyes. He refused to join a gang, rode across Mexico atop cargo trains, crossed the US border as a minor, and was handcuffed and thrown into ICE detention on his eighteenth birthday. We hear the story of Rosa, a Salvadoran mother fighting to save her life as well as her daughter's after death squads threatened her family. Together they trekked through the jungles on the border between Guatemala and Mexico, where masked men assaulted them. We also meet Gabriel, who after surviving sexual abuse starting at the age of eight fled to the United States, and through study, legal support and work, is now attending UC Berkeley.

Steven Mayers is a writer, oral historian and Professor of English at the City College of San Francisco. Jonathan Freedman is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, author, and writing mentor at the City College of San Francisco. His novel, The Last Brazil of Benjamin East, (2014 Bright Lights Press) was critically acclaimed. He graduated from Columbia University, traveled overland from America to Bolivia, and lived in Brazil, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Distinguished Editorial Writing for his prophetic editorials calling for immigration reform.

Praise for Jonathan Freedman's The Last Brazil of Benjamin East: "Tender-hearted and provocative from beginning to end, The Last Brazil of Benjamin East is an engaging read and destined to be an award winner." -- San Francisco Book Review "A spirited, hopeful novel that serves as a reminder that change is always possible." -- Kirkus Reviews "The story is engaging and Benjamin is unforgettable: a complicated, and sympathetic character who captured and kept my interest. The prose is clear, smart, funny, and knowing. The insistent search for meaning shines through." -- Robert Koppel, author of Why Love? "Jonathan Freedman is "a beautiful prose stylist...a very provocative writer." -- Patricia A. O'Connell, Commonweal