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The next title in the Campus Community Book Project is Solito: A Memoir, which tells the story of a 9-year-old’s solo journey from El Salvador to the United States to reunite with his parents.

Javier Zamora’s memoir was chosen for the book project’s 2025-26 theme, belonging. Over the next year, the campus community will be invited to participate in programming related to the theme and the book itself, culminating in .

Agnes Stark, a continuing lecturer in the 91��Ƭ Davis Writing Center and a member of the book project selection committee, said she hopes Solito will spark discussions about immigration and what it means to be American.

“When we read Javier Zamora’s Solito, we can enjoy being immersed in the story, all the while considering what so many people take for granted — most of us don’t have to risk our lives in perilous journeys to reunite with family, to seek personal safety and basic economic security, or to belong to a nation without fear of deportation or imprisonment,” she said. “When we read Solito together, our campus can discuss the intricacies of culture and the many contributions of all immigrants, as we examine the stigma, causes and effects of having undocumented status and overall immigration.”

The book also connects to the 35th anniversary of the Principles of Community, with the selection committee hoping it will spark discussions about the ideas of human dignity, respect and understanding that are core to that document.

Those interested in helping to organize events around the theme are invited to .

A two-month journey

Solito, a New York Times bestseller and , tells the story of Zamora’s 1999 journey. “as gripping as it is moving.”

“Javier Zamora’s adventure is a 3,000-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico, and across the U.S. border. He will leave behind his beloved aunt and grandparents to reunite with a mother who left four years ago and a father he barely remembers. Traveling alone amid a group of strangers and a ‘coyote’ hired to lead them to safety, Javier expects his trip to last two short weeks.

“At 9 years old, all Javier can imagine is rushing into his parents’ arms, snuggling in bed between them, and living under the same roof again. He cannot foresee the perilous boat trips, relentless desert treks, pointed guns, arrests and deceptions that await him; nor can he know that those two weeks will expand into two life-altering months alongside fellow migrants who will come to encircle him like an unexpected family.”

Copies of the book will be available from 91��Ƭ Davis Stores at a later date.

Upcoming theme: civil liberties

Campus Community Book Project organizers are also looking ahead to 2026-27, when they will gather under the theme of civil liberties.

Whatever title is chosen, it will be the 25th in the Campus Community Book Project, a series of deep, meaningful discussions first started in the aftermath of 9/11 to promote conversation around a common subject, sharing all perspectives respectfully, in accordance with the Principles of Community.

have included mental health, gun violence, disability issues, immigration, food insecurity and more.

Organizers said they hope the 25th title will honor the book project’s legacy, creating opportunities to deepen our understanding of what strengthens our community, and ways we can act to improve it.