“We look like leaf-cutter ants in Abuelita’s garden, but instead of holding bitten leaves over our heads, we carry our black backpacks.”
? Javier Zamora, “Solito”
Courtesy image.
CAMARILLO — Author Javier Zamora was just nine years old when he fled his native El Salvador to make a perilous journey through Guatemala, Mexico and into the U.S. after being separated from his parents during the civil war.
The memoir he later wrote about his journey – “Solito” – is the book chosen for this year’s CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Campus Reading Celebration, a two-week event that will culminate with a talk from the author and a book-signing on Sept. 30.
CSUCI John Spoor Broome Librarian Colleen Harris called on campus members to put together events for the two-week celebration, which includes open mic storytelling events, panel discussions, faculty presentations on subjects related to the book’s message, and even a “build your own pop-up book” workshop.
The celebration on Sept. 30 – which is open to the public – will be held at CSUCI’s North Quad from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Zamora scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. in the Grand Salon.
“There will be tables featuring CSUCI and local authors, and booths designed to raise awareness about literacy and other programs, organizations and services,” Harris said. “The Early Childhood Studies students will host bilingual story time. Before the author presentation, we’ll have two CSUCI lectures from Professor of History Frank Barajas and Chicana/o Studies Lecturer Raul Morenos Campos.”
Zamora fled El Salvador in 1999 when the aftermath of the civil war resulted in the ready availability of military-style weapons and a scourge of gangs and organized crime, making El Salvador one of Latin America’s most violent places.
His book recounts his 3,000-mile journey to the U.S. with a group of strangers and a “coyote,” traveling by truck, boat and on foot.
“It’s very hot in the sun. Even hotter on the asphalt; our shoes feel like they’re melting,” reads one passage from “Solito.” “We took our nice clothes off; Patricia thought it was smart to put our wet clothes on, the ones she washed for me. It did cool us off for a bit, but now we’re hot again. We’re sweating like we sweated when we were sprawled on the dirt. The guns. Their hands.”
Many students at CSUCI have immigration stories of their own – and many were children when they came to the U.S. – which is why Harris believes the themes in “Solito” make it an ideal choice for the CSUCI campus.
“It’s a terrible story of how children have to live in the real world, and it’s also a story about chosen family,” Harris said. “It’s about the importance of individual relationships to the health of a community as a whole. And we have so many folks on campus and in the community who have had a migration experience or are close to family members who have. For these folks, it’s important to have that experience recognized – and for others to understand and empathize.”
This is the first time the Campus Reading Celebration has been expanded into several campus-specific events over the course of two weeks. Also, this is the first year CSUCI is combining the annual reading event with the Ventura County Library’s annual community reading program called “One County, One Book.”
With Solito also being chosen as the “2023 One County, One Book” title, the two organizations were able to work together to bring the author to Ventura County at the Ventura County Celebration of Books on Sept. 30.
Harris and Director of the Ventura County Library, Nancy Schram, agree that a countywide and campuswide reading celebration like this one does much more than expand literacy—it builds relationships.
“In addition to being a nod to books and libraries, it’s really bringing the community together,”
Schram said. “It sparks discussion and starts important conversations that allow us to connect with one another and to hear one another’s diverse viewpoints. We connect people not just to stories and information, but to one another.”
For a detailed rundown of the Campus Reading Celebration and the Ventura County Celebration of Books, visit: www.csuci.edu/crc/ and www.vclibraryfoundation.org/ventura-county-celebration-of-books
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY CHANNEL ISLANDS — California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) is Ventura County’s only public university and opened in 2002 as the 23rd campus in the CSU system serving the regions of Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles counties, as well as the entire state. CSUCI is located between Camarillo and the Oxnard Plain, midway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles and 25 miles north from Malibu.
The campus is nestled against the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and is a 10-minute drive from the Pacific Ocean. With more than 5,600 students, 24,500 alumni, and 1,000 employees, CSUCI is poised to grow in size and distinction, while maintaining one of the most student-focused learning environments in public higher education with more than 90 academic degrees, teaching credentials, certificates, and professional and community programs.
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