There is so much to say about this novel, I don’t know where to start. Obviously it is a highly hyped book, but I’ve seen a lot of reviews by people who don’t seem to have seen any of the controversy around this book, so I wanted to share in the hope that this will spread that information and reach more people. I’m not saying this book shouldn’t be read - I think that’s a decision for each person to make for themselves - but it’s important that we don’t promote a book blindly without knowing its background and context.

First off: the way this book has been promoted is dishonest and problematic. The publisher’s note centers around the author being the wife of a formerly undocumented immigrant - but the fact that he is Irish is completely left out. This narrative is purposely misleading and is repeated in the author’s note at the end of the novel where she describes the terror of being pulled over for a traffic violation. I don’t want to dismiss anyone’s experiences, but being a white European immigrant in the U.S. is a very different reality than being an immigrant from Mexico or Central America.

Now: the book itself. There is a lot of beautiful prose that pulls you in and makes you fall in love with the characters of Lydia and Luca. I liked the non-chronological timeline and the writing style that seamlessly jumped between different characters’ points of view. Now. Let’s get into the issues. The very first scene is a massacre of 16 family members by a cartel. I found it sensationalistic to open the book this way. I could have moved past that issue, but then it was just one terrible stereotype after another about Mexico. Like any country, Mexico has a huge diversity of people, places, and experiences. To only show the negative and violent - while portraying the U.S. as an all-positive Promised Land - is harmful and disingenuous. I also found a lot of the side characters (especially the sisters) as one dimensional puppets who were only there to portray more stereotypes and violence. All of this being said, this book was so beautifully written, I did find myself emotionally attached and wanting to read to the end. I’m only human!

What do I say about a book that I want everyone to read but the less you know about the plot the better? How about- read this because once you start you won’t be able to stop! The opening scene, set in the Mexican city of Acapulco is terrifying, heart-stopping and introduces us to one mother, Lydia, and her 8-year-old son Luca, whose lives are forever changed in the span of 60 sec. by cartel violence and murder. ⠀⠀
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Lydia’s once normal life as a married mom and owner of a bookstore is gone and to survive she must escape from the cartels with her son to the closest safe location - the US. With the cartels having eyes and ears everywhere, she starts a migrant journey that is at times heartbreaking and terrifying but also filled with instances of humanity, kindness, and resilience. The author’s ability to create characters that felt REAL was incredible, the level of tension sometimes so much that I had to hold my breath. ⠀⠀
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This story surprised me in that I didn’t expect it to be a thriller - but it most definitely was- and it challenged me to think about the migrant experience like I hadn’t thought about it before. In fact, I’m still thinking about it, these characters and their stories will stay with me - it’s been a reading experience that I won’t forget. NOTE: this isn’t a story about the cartels, it’s about the people who’ve experienced the trauma, injustice, and violence as a result of the cartels. It’s an incredibly powerful story but it’s fiction, be sure to read the author’s note at the end, she provides insight into the story! I’m especially grateful that I had so many insightful ladies to chat within our buddy read…that was so much fun! I alternated print with audio but ended up with mostly audio as the narrator was fantastic,

5 Brilliant Stars!!!

This book is a MUST-READ for everyone!

Jeanine Cummins wrote a suspenseful and a heartbreaking story, a story that will stay with me for a very long time. This book had my heart pounding and tears rolling down my face, and I am so very impressed with the author’s ability to write such a timely novel with so much grace and honesty.

American Dirt is a powerful and an important story and it is easily one of my favorite books of all time.

So yes, the hype is real! Now do yourself a favor and read this beautiful book.

Thank you NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and the author for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

While it has been a while since I read Steinbeck's classic, The Grapes of Wrath, the comparison was enough to pique my initial interest in this story, and I'm grateful to Flatiron for a chance to read this ahead of its January 2020 release.

The novel opens with a mother and son sheltering in a bathroom following an incredibly violent cartel-massacre of the rest of their family. Early chapters alternate between them escaping the violence targeting their family with a flashback narrative that helps the reader piece together the context. As expected from the subject-matter, their story is fast paced, and had me absolutely mesmerized. As a reader, I felt invested in the experience of Lydia and Luca, as well as the other characters they meet and share their journey with. Without spoiling anything specific, some of these secondary narrative threads were some of the most memorable and powerfully written for me. There are many layered and complex experiences shared in this novel, and most powerful for me was the depth and sensitivity with which Cummins wrote her characters.

Following many recent fiction and nonfiction releases giving voice to immigrant experiences (such as [b:Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions|33608721|Tell Me How It Ends An Essay in Forty Questions|Valeria Luiselli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1497428713l/33608721._SY75_.jpg|54428382], [b:Everyone Knows You Go Home|35233730|Everyone Knows You Go Home|Natalia Sylvester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1515011817l/35233730._SX50_.jpg|56581862] and my current read [b:The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America|43570472|The Good Immigrant 26 Writers Reflect on America|Nikesh Shukla|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569301487l/43570472._SX50_.jpg|67791980]) this adds another voice (albeit an imagined one through fiction) to this chorus of experiences. Conscious of concerns I had seen raised by other readers, any questions I had were addressed in the candid and fulsome author's note at the end of the novel (which Cummins powerfully narrates herself in the audiobook edition). She speaks to her motivations and experience writing this story, her initial hesitation in doing so, and not wanting to contribute to depictions of cartels and that violence that "can feed into the worst stereotypes about Mexico." I also really appreciated what Cummins shared, both in her characters and her author's note, about the violence committed against journalists in Mexico.

This is a complex story and one I think Cummins has done with great deference and years of research, and with a consciousness of the sensitivities around such a narrative.

I finished this a few weeks ago, but it definitely on of those books that stays with you. I've already talked a few book clubs into reading this next year!

This will be the best book of 2020, hands down! It was absolutely incredible. "American Dirt" is the compelling story of a mother and son who survive the massacre of their entire family by a Mexican drug lord. This well-researched book details their harrowing journey to safety in the United States. This book is raw and brutal; it does not hold anything back. It is also heart-wrenching and tender and brought me to tears. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Jeanine Cummins' characters came alive as I was reading and I genuinely cared about their fates. Thank you Ms. Cummins for this timely book that puts a name and individual story to the hundreds of migrants hoping to escape terror and poverty by traveling to the United States. Hopefully, this book will open the eyes of those who choose to turn a blind eye (and a hardened heart) to the real people who are experiencing exactly what the characters in this book experienced. This may be the most important novel some people ever read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of this brilliant book in exchange for my honest review.

“So Lydia is worried about all these things, and yet, she has a new understanding of the futility of worry, The worst will either happen or not happen, and there’s no worry that will make a difference in either direction.”
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There’s no other way to say it- this book is a masterpiece. Lydia is a bookseller in Acapulco who is married to a journalist. When her husband writes an expose on the jefe of the most notorious drug cartel in the area, their family meets unthinkable tragedy. Lydia and her son Luca are forced to flee their hometown and everything they know in search for a semblance of life in el norte.

This timely and well researched story educated me to the dangers that so many are facing in their home countries. It’s a story about resilience, overcoming trauma, survival, and ultimately, love. The pacing was spot on from the very first page- it’s a literary “issues” book, but it made my heart pound and captured my attention like the very best thrillers do.

This is so moving and real- I’m heartbroken and feel helpless, because these aren’t just characters on the page. Cummins has brought the stories of thousands of real life migrants to life. Stories like these make me thankful to be a reader. Kudos to Jeanine Cummins for creating this.

Shame on the author, and the publisher, for a book that contributes to the negative narrative of Mexico and immigration, and perpetuates stereotypes of Mexican people.

This is dangerous, divisive, and insensitive. This content poisons brains and its not okay.

Applause for those refusing to purchase, or sell, this book.

There is no way that you will read this book and not be changed by it. It is easily one of the most thought provoking and stunning stories I have ever read. People will be talking about this work for years to come and I am so grateful to Flat Iron for allowing me the chance to read an advanced copy. This book has profoundly impacted me as a person and as a reader and I wish I could put a copy in everyone's hands.

A popular novel about fleeing Mexican drug savagery in the hopes of safety and a new life in the US? It could be soapy and sentimental (or, these days, even science fiction) and moments of Cummins’ novel are, but the majority of the time her tale of cruelty, terror and desperation is a suspenseful, compelling read that imagines itself memorably into the relentless dangers and deprivations of the immigrants, especially the women and children, running from their homes.

The story opens with a massacre, the mowing down of sixteen members of a single family, all related to Lydia and her eight-year-old son Luca who are the only survivors. Gone are Lydia’s mother and her beloved husband Sebastian, a journalist whose latest expose of a vicious drug cartel leader has brought these reprisals down on all their heads.

The twist is that the cartel leader, Javier, is a friend of Lydia’s, a man who has visited her often in her bookshop, shared his own poetry and his favorite books, and opened his soul about his feelings for his family and her.

Bereft, contaminated and obscurely guilty, Lydia’s only survival option now is to take Luca and walk out of her previous life, taking merely whatever she can grab from the crime scene. No one can be trusted, not the police nor any passing stranger, shopkeeper or hotel receptionist, any of whom might be an informant, on the cartel’s payroll.

Thus begins a journey across Mexico, riding buses and later the tops of goods trains – known as La Bestia, the beast, where injuries and fatalities are frequent. Their company is other strangers of all ages and nationalities whose plights are different but often equally traumatic. Through these fellow travelers – young girls, working-age men, single children – Cummins graphically introduces a panoply of immigrant experience and need. Lawlessness, drug crimes, sexual exploitation and more are pushing each of them away from homes and families. In front of them is the impossible journey to a dream future, a trip which will expose them to thieves, kidnappers, rapists – and also many kind and generous individuals too.

Cummins constantly avoids predictability, while keeping the pace fast and the sentiment plausible. Her weakest spot is probably Luca, a precocious child whose gift for geography and lion-like spirit undermine some of the naturalism. Lydia, however, a young woman denying herself the opportunity to confront her grief while trying tirelessly to find a solution for herself and her child, is an appealing archetype, resourceful and credible even when sapped of energy and hope.

If the author’s intention was to animate and individualize the desperation, bravery and endurance of the fleeing masses, and invite reading groups and sympathetic individuals to meet them, she has succeeded. Readers will immerse themselves in this mother-and-child-in-peril story and will the characters to reach and cross the border. Even if they do, however, none of us is kidding ourselves that their problems will be behind them.

Harrowing and heartbreaking as Lydia and Luca seek to escape the murder of their family, yet affirming and hopeful in the kindness people can give each other and the families we create. I can't say I read this all in one sitting, as I had to take breaks from the tension. I hope this book finds a wide audience!

Oh, my. Where to begin?

I read “American Dirt” during the week of the LeBaron family massacre in Sonora. While the motives of the Juarez cartel remain murky, and the culpability of the family raises serious questions, the fact remains that three mothers and six children were violently slain in broad daylight.
“American Dirt” also begins with an opening scene that I will not ever forget. True horror, mindless, senseless, remorseless violence. So….all is set for a comic-book like terror story about the drug cartels of Mexico vs. the Border Agents of the US and how out of control our world is and how little we can do about it, right?
But….that is not the novel that Jeanine Cumins has written. Instead we have a remarkable book written from the point of view of real-life ordinary characters whose lives are daily and forever interrupted by the fear, violence, and inhumanity of the present situation. Adults and children trying to live normal lives amidst climate change, narco-terrorism, human trafficking, homophobia, and xenophobic nationalism.
Ms. Cumins does this through a combination of hyper-realistic, vivid scenes and stories with nuanced, true-to-life characters. The narrative flows smoothly and quickly, but I could only read a bit at a time because it was so emotionally taxing.
I will more curious than usual to know how it went for everyone, especially Luca. I’m not one for series, but I wouldn’t mind a sequel.
Thank you, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the eArc.

An important and exemplary book that was difficult to read and left me bawling at the end, for so many reasons: to be reminded again and again of the thin line between normalcy and horror; for the kindness of strangers who restore small pieces of humanity to Lydia, Luca and the other migrants; and for the sheer number of untold true stories of migrants across the world. In the character of Lydia, Cummins has created a portal to understanding the migrant experience without being preachy or doomsday-ish: this is simply what it is happening, to real people who are both good and bad, every single day.

Cummins does a masterful job of capturing trauma--and there is so much in the story it's almost impossible to comprehend, and yet feels realistic---but this is still a story of hope. One of the best books I've read this year and a book that I hope does well commercially and critically. Highly recommend.

I have read a lot of books this year but 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝙳𝚒𝚛𝚝 is a story that I will never forget. If this is setting the standard for next year, then 2020 is going to be a great year for books.

Lydia and her son Luca are forced to leave their home and migrate to the United States. They encounter many people during their journey- some that offer them shelter and hope, but also some that are out to harm them. This story really is a testament to the depths a parent will go to to save their child.

This book starts off with a bang and never lets up. I was on the edge of my seat and my adrenaline was pumping throughout. I knew this book was going to blow me away and it did not disappoint.

Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron Books for this advance reading copy. This book will be published 1/21/20.

This book is incredibly moving and informative. While it is fiction, there is no doubt this book is based on real people and situations. I think this novel will be a huge hit in 2020. I will certainly be recommending to my reader friends,

A well written book about the struggle for existence in the world of cartel violence in Mexico and the desperate search for a better life up north. The main character, Lydia befriends a friendly and well spoken man with whom she bonds with and ultimately leads to her struggle for survival. She is forced to leave a good life to try to save her son. A book unlike any I typically read. Pick it up and be prepared to be moved.
Thank you Netgalley,Jeanine Cummins, Flatiron Books for the ARC for my honest review.

I was nine years old when I concluded that being a writer was the most important career in the world because books could make us cry and laugh and dream and envision another reality. The idea of being an art teacher or a music teacher or someone dedicated to God dropped by the wayside. I wanted to be a writer because of the great power of the pen, the way books change lives.

A book like American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins exemplifies the wisdom of the nine-year-old me. For in telling the riveting story of people who must leave their beloved homes to save their lives, Cummins gives faces to those we are told to fear, and when their stories move us we connect to the 'other' and experience our common humanity.

The cover blurb calls this novel "The Grapes of Wrath for our time." Steinbeck's novel was published in 1939 and was an instant best-seller in spite of being labeled "socialist propaganda." The Depression and Dust Bowl had driven 5000,000 people to leave their homes and travel across America, hoping to find work--to just survive. Steinbeck showed America who these migrants were, how they were treated, how they suffered on their journey.

Today's migrants also flee for their lives, not because of environmental degradation has destroyed their livelihood, but because of violence and lawlessness and human trafficking. They just want the freedom to survive.

American Dirt begins with an explosive chapter of horror and violence, with Lydia and her eight-year-old son Lucas in hiding, listening to the sound of sixteen family members being murdered. The choices made by Lydia and her journalist husband Sebastian brought them to this moment. Lydia was drawn to befriend Javier, a patron in her bookstore, unaware he was the head of a deadly cartel. And Sebastian wrote an expose' on Javier for his newspaper.

As Lydia and Lucas flee and make their way from Acapulco north they accumulate a rag-tag family, Soledad and Rebeca, sisters from the idyllic cloud forest now controlled by a cartel, and Beto, a world-wise child from the garbage dumps. Other travelers exemplify the diversity of migrants--a teen trying to escape the cartel, men who go north for work, a grad student brought to America as a child, a middle-class mother in America legally who is arrested during her routine check-in.

These people encounter all the terrors of the migrant journey, learning to scramble onto moving trains, hunger and thirst and weariness, continual fear, capture and ransom, rape, abuse--and the charity of helpers.

I was literally brought to tears when a man escorts Lydia, Lucas, and the sisters through town, protecting them with his size and machete. When asked why he did this for migrants he replied, "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink,’ with Lydia finishing, "A stranger and you welcomed me."

I spent my entire adult life as the wife of a clergyman. I know both scripture and what is required of us and the many ways we justify our actions--or inactions-- our sins of commission and omission. The ways we twist things, grab onto worldly values to sidestep doing what is right.

I also have seen how true faith is risk and perilous and how false faith separates, judges, and protects one's self-interest.

History teaches that silence is consent, inaction is approval. Something must stir the public's heart. Nothing does that like a good story.

The Grapes of Wrath caught Eleanor Roosevelt's attention and she called for the government to look into migrant camp conditions. As Susan Shillinglaw notes, “Empathy is the signature of the book—an empathetic response to human suffering."

And that is what American Dirt accomplishes.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

American Dirt is not an easy read, but it's an engrossing, important one. This book tells the story of several migrants making their way through Mexico, hoping to enter the U.S. For most of them, the journey begins with violence.

The central characters, Lydia and Luca, are the only survivors of a drug cartel massacre that kills sixteen members of the same family. Convinced that the cartel will continue to hunt them, Lydia flees home and the bookstore she runs in Acapulco with her eight-year-old son Luca. Suddenly she finds herself having to make life-or-death decisions—without any secure options—on a daily basis.

Alternately walking and riding on the roof of a freight train "La Bestia," Lydia and Luca meet a pair of sisters, Soledad and Rebecca, ages fifteen and fourteen, who are fleeing their home in Honduras, again due to cartel violence. They face the threat of sexual assault constantly—and find themselves themselves in situations where the assaults are brutally real, not just threatened.

The people these four meet on their journey represent some of the best—and the absolute worst—humanity has to offer. There are villagers who toss food to those riding La Bestia, despite having very little themselves. Others who provide a hiding place in a desperate moment. Churches that open their doors to migrants. But there are also those who hunt the migrants, seeing them as easy targets for violence or commodities to be sold to the highest bidder.

At a time when we are being fed a bigoted narrative of "bad hombres" crossing our border, American Dirt comes as a necessary, if brutal, response. Yes, as American Dirt makes clear, those bad hombres exist, but the vast majority of migrants are people like Lydia, Luca, Soledad, and Rebecca, fleeing the unbearable and dreaming of nothing more than a chance to live simple, honest lives. It is time for the stories of these migrants to be told—and told in a way that honors the dignity of the desperate moving north in whatever way they can.

Great book. Would have never read had the publisher not recommended. The hurt the love all in one book but the prevailing is what matters.

This book is amazing. I love each and every page. I thought the characters where relatable, synthetic, and realistic. The events or full of suspense. Though the book ultimately has a positive ending, there are some very realistic hardships along the way.

In the very first few pages of the book, the main character hides her with her son in a bathtub in Mexico while the cartel shoots her entire family outside during a picnic. After this horrendous event they must leave everything behind and try to make it to the United States before the cartel finds her.

Along the way they have a lot of near misses and meet many interesting characters. You have to admire her determination to save her son. This I think is one of the best books I have read this year. I cannot wait for more of my friends to read the book so that we can all talk about it.