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Speaking to a high school class in Chicago, author Sonia Nazario was approached by a young African聽American girl. The student had read Enrique鈥檚 Journey, a national bestseller drawn from Nazario鈥檚 Pulitzer聽Prize-winning series on a young man鈥檚 treacherous expedition from Honduras to the United States in search of聽his mother. The book, the girl said, made her realize how similar her Latino classmates鈥� history is to her own.
鈥淲e鈥檙e so separate, Black and Latino,鈥� the girl said of her school. 鈥淏ut I read this book and I thought about how聽my grandmother came north during the Great Migration and left my mother behind. I get this. I have a bridge now聽to relate to my classmates. . . .”
Nazario believes 90 percent of good writing starts with a strong idea. While she considers herself a natural reporter, she rewrote Enrique鈥檚 Journey 12 times. She believes teachers
must dissuade students from believing writing is always easy. Like any worthwhile pursuit, she said, good writing [can be] difficult.
鈥淵ou build a house one great brick at a time,鈥� Nazario said. 鈥淚 work to make my writing as clear and simple as聽possible. If you have powerful scenes and powerful details in the narrative, you can take readers on a powerful ride.聽Sometimes the most powerful stories are simply told. . . .”
While visiting colleges, Nazario is both exhilarated and terrified when first-year students say her book is the聽first they ever read cover to cover. She views literacy as a top priority for the immigrant population. . . .
鈥淚mmigrant children or the children of immigrants are the fastest growing demographic K鈥�12,鈥� Nazario said. 鈥淭hese kids are the future workforce of this country. Nearly half聽of Latino students drop out of high school. That is the highest percentage of any ethnic group. Succeeding with literacy is critical, and we are obviously failing.鈥�
When teaching Enrique鈥檚 Journey, Nazario encourages teachers to use the text to foster critical discussion. . . .聽鈥淎lways remember,鈥� Nazario says, 鈥渙ne of our first聽instincts should be compassion, to try to put ourselves in other peoples鈥� shoes. It does not mean we always agree with their choices, but before you judge you should try to聽see things through their eyes. We have to be open to being transported to different places with an open heart.鈥�
Sonia Nazario was a keynote speaker at the 2014 起点传媒Convention in Washington, DC.聽