Our Discussion of American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Discussion group members noted that there was an element of surprise when reading this fiction book since the first chapter was written to "pull in" the reader. Then the author seemed to change her point of view as she moved through the story. There was an endearing Mother/Son relationship between Lydia and Luca the the development of the other characters added to the depth of the story. The author did good writing to gather the reader into the plots; however, many of the story lines were not believable. There was discussion about the controversy surrounding this Oprah Book Club selection due to the author not being a Latina nor had she herself experienced the perils of migration through Mexico to the El Norte/United States soil. However, there needs to be a mindset that this book did take the author seven years of research time to write and it is a fiction book, not non-fiction. 

The themes extracted from American Dirt by the discussion group members are Courage, Family, Security, Political, Setting, Latinas, and Danger.

The members rate each book on Appeal and Recommendation as follows:

Appeal: 5 = One of the best I've read
               4 = Enjoyed
               3 = OK.
               2 = Disappointing
               1 = Not for me
Recommendation: 5 = Recommend to anyone
                                  4 = Recommend to most
                                  3 = Recommend to some
                                  2 = Recommend to a few
                                  1 = Would not recommend

American Dirt earned a 2 rating for Appeal and a 2 rating for Recommendation.