fiction
American Dirt describes the journey to America made by Lydia
and her 8-year old son, Luca, after they barely escape execution by a drug
cartel which killed their entire family in Acapulco, Mexico.
This novel is tough to read at times. It illuminates the way
cartels are destroying central American cities and convincing migrants to head
for America. If they stay where they are, they face being killed or being
forced into working for/being slaves to the cartel leaders. “They fled violence
and poverty, gangs more powerful than their governments.” Many of these people choose to aim for the
chance of freedom in America instead. The migrants face many dangers along the
way and are preyed upon by evil people. If the drug cartels don’t find them, there
are criminals robbing, assaulting, raping, and killing them simply because they
can. There are the inherent dangers of jumping on/off moving cargo trains as
well as the natural dangers in extreme climate and terrain environments. If
they make it to the border, not only do they have US immigration to deal with
but also vigilante Americans killing for fun.
I had heard about Mexican people dying in trucks,
discoveries of mass graves, and student groups missing in Mexico, but it was so
far removed from my life that I never had taken much time to truly understand
the people, their motivations, and their realities. This was very eye-opening, gripping, and
suspenseful. It’s the sort of novel you hate to keep reading sometimes but you
can’t not continue. I’ve definitely learned a lot and now appreciate their
plight more than I did before. Jeanine Cummins and her promotional tactics have
gained a lot of criticism but I feel the novel does a great job at educating
the otherwise far-removed American about the situation south of the border. I’m
glad I read it!
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