Everybody Reads 2025 celebrates Javier Zamora’s Solito.
Everybody Reads is an annual community-wide project from Multnomah County Library that promotes shared reading and discussion around a single book.
How to participate
Read:
Check out Solito from the library, available in Spanish or English.
Copies of Solito are also available to purchase from the Literary Arts bookstore for 20% off. Click here to buy online and pick up in-store.
Discuss, learn and be inspired:
Explore the project guide or check the events calendar for information. From January to March, 2025 you can attend events surrounding the book and its themes.
Upcoming free events:
Tuesday, February 4 from 5:30–7:30 p.m.
a Cocina de las Patronas: Film screening and discussion | Woodstock Library
Wednesday, February 5 from 6:30–7:45 p.m.
Discuss Solito at Hollywood Library | Hollywood Library
Saturday, February 8 from 1:00–2:30 p.m.
Un Cafecito con la Jueza Torres / Coffee with Judge Torres | Holgate Library
Tuesday, Feb 11 from 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Discusión del libro Solito | Fairview-Columbia Library
Wednesday, February 19 from 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Leyendas y libros de Latinoamérica | Gresham Library
Saturday, February 22 from 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Dibujemos Juntos a Solito / Drawing Solito Together | Rockwood Library
Wednesday, February 26 from 6:00–7:30 p.m.
A Path to Home: A panel discussion | Central Library
Saturday, March 1 from 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Who Belongs? A creative theatre workshop & panel discussion | Midland Library
Saturday, March 1 from 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Ecos del Sur | North Portland Library
Tuesday, March 4 from 6:00–7:00 p.m.
Discuss Solito at Broadway Books | Broadway Books
Wednesday, March 5 | 5:30–7:30 p.m.
La Cocina de las Patronas: Film Screening & Discussion | North Portland Library
Click here to learn more about these free library events.
Everybody Reads will conclude with “An Evening with Javier Zamora” on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 7:30 pm at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, presented by Literary Arts. Tickets are available here.
About the book:
Solito is an account of Zamora’s 3,000-mile journey from El Salvador to the United States when he was nine years old. His crossing involved perilous boat trips and relentless desert treks during two life-altering months alongside a group of strangers who became an unexpected family.
He traveled unaccompanied by boat, bus, and foot. After a coyote abandoned his group in Oaxaca, Javier managed to make it to Arizona with the aid of other migrants.
