write a book review essay of Javier Zamora’s book, Solito: A Memoir.
Your book review essay should be approximately seven to eight pages in length,
typewritten, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides; 12 point font (this is
standard academic practice for all essays).
A critical book review makes an argument. The most important element of a review is that it
is a commentary, not merely a summary. It allows you to enter into dialogue and discussion
with the work’s creator and with its audience.
Do not simply summarize the content of Zamora’s book. Instead, look for major themes that
tie the book together. Hence, make sure that the bulk of the body of your book review essay
is a commentary on how Zamora’s book helps us to understand how ideas of “race” and
“ethnicity” as well as ideological practices of racism informed the everyday lived
experiences of the people Zamora talks about in Solito.
Some of the questions you should ask yourself when reading the book and writing your
critical book review include (but are not limited to):
• What shapes people’s decisions to move to the United States?
• Why did Javier Zamora take the route that he did?
• Why was Javier Zamora (and the people he traveled with) unable to secure a safe
and lawful path to entering the United States and reuniting with his parents?
• What are some of the social, economic, political forces that shaped Zamora’s life and
the decision to have him migrate to the United States?
• What assumptions inform the establishment of immigration policies and border
controls? How are these informed by ideas of “race” and “ethnicity” in the United
States?
• How do ideas of “race” and “ethnicity” shape ideas of “nationhood”?
• What do you think is the best way to address human migration?
