The online book club I’m a part of, #spiveys📚club, which has over 16,500 members, had chosen American Dirt as their February Discussion Book. This was prior to all of the controversy that has been shed about the book. Many members wanted to have an alternative choice, so our fearless leader, Ashley Spivey, researched #own voices books that would be appropriate. She chose The Devil’s Highway—A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea. Published in 2004, it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2005. I borrowed it from my local library in ebook form.
I first read American Dirt and then read The Devil’s Highway. There is really no comparison in the two books. The Devil’s Highway is an #ownvoices book. #ownvoices is a movement created on Twitter to make book recommendations about various diverse groups written by the authors of the same diverse group. The Devil’s Highway is the true story of a group of 26 men who attempted to cross the Mexican border in May, 2001. Author Luis Alberto Urrea did painstaking detailed investigative reporting on the group of men, of which only 12 survived. Urrea is a masterful writer, and his lyrical style of writing makes the Mexican countryside come alive. In addition, Urrea interviews the Border Patrol, who he found are not always the way they are presented. He found that they tried to save lives, not just enforce laws. In addition, Urrea told the stories of the Yuma-14, who perished. The most heart-wrenching story to me was that of father and son, Reymundo Barrera, Sr. and his 15-year-old soccer star son. Urrea put a face on each of the men and boys who lost their lives.
I highly recommend The Devil’s Highway-A True Story as an alternative to reading American Dirt.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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