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

In this moving and expertly researched collection of 15 narratives, Mayers, a historian and professor, and Freedan, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, offer readers oral histories told by some of the “thousands of children... trekking from Central America to El Norte” and some of the mothers making the journey with their children . Readers meet Cristhian, who fled an abusive home in Honduras at age 10 only to be beaten in detention in Mexico and repeatedly deported from Mexico and the U.S. over the next 18 years; Isabel, who fled El Salvador after her gang member husband nearly killed her; and 17-year-old Gabriel, from Honduras, who was repeatedly raped by his uncles and left for dead. As the editors’ detailed timeline makes clear, many of the countries children are fleeing today were subjects of U.S. interventions in the 1980s. If migrants survive dangerous travel through Mexico, Mayers and Freedman write, they often receive abusive treatment in the United States when seeking asylum. The authors end by urging readers to take political action to help migrants like those interviewed here. This work carries a harrowing message. [em](Apr.) [/em]