American Dirt Book Club by Lindsay Kalkhoff

Controversy

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The Danger of a Single Story

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'American Dirt' Has Us Talking. That's a Good Thing.

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American Dirt Trailer

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Building Background

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Building Background

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Building Background

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Respond

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pages 59-65

Lydia and Luca are on the run from Javier and the cartel. They eventually go to Mexico City where they stay with a friend of her husband. But his religious wife is not comfortable with them staying there. Let’s talk about that section.

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-01-19 19:58:10 UTC

pages 1-15

It starts off right away with violence as cartel members murder Lydia’s entire family (16 in total). What did you think about this beginning?

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Respond

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What did you think about the descriptions of Acapulco in the book?

How does the current state of Acapulco differ from your previous knowledge of this tourist attraction?

Respond

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What would you have done if you were Lydia?

Imelda's Experience of Acapulco

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Imelda traveled there in the late 90s, before the corruption and said it was beautiful and completely safe. Main street was "insane! Long nights of clubs, restaurants, and all kinds of fun stuff. Back then it was wonderful." She is so sad and mad about the current state.

(see next few posts for more pictures from her trip there)

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Building Background Knowledge- La Bestia

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Respond

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Throughout the novel, Lydia thinks back on how, when she was living a middle-class existence, she viewed migrants with pity. Do you think the author chose to make Lydia a middle-class woman as her protagonist for a reason? Do you think the reader would have had a different entry point to the novel if Lydia started out as a poor migrant? Would you have viewed Lydia differently if she had come from poor origins? How much do you identify with Lydia?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-01-27 21:45:24 UTC

Sebastián persists in running his story on Javier even though he knows it will put him and his family in grave danger. Do you admire what he did? Was he a good journalist or a bad husband and father? Is it possible he was both? What would you have done if you were him?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-01-27 21:46:50 UTC

Lydia refers to her and Luca becoming migrants as something that happened to them rather than something they did. Do you think the author did this intentionally? Do you think language allows us to label things as “other” that is, in a way, tantamount to self-preservation? Does it allow us to compartmentalize things that are too difficult to comprehend?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-01-27 21:47:24 UTC

When Lydia is at the Casa del Migrante, she learns the term cuerpomático --- “human ATM machine” --- and what it means. Were you surprised to learn how dangerous the passage is, and for female migrants in particular?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-01-27 21:47:47 UTC

When Lydia, Luca, Soledad and Rebeca are at the Casa del Migrante, the priest warns them to turn back. Were you surprised that he would be issuing such a dire warning when he must know how desperate they are to be there in the first place? Under what conditions might you decide to leave your homeland?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-03-05 20:35:26 UTC

Was Javier’s reaction to Marta’s death at all understandable? Humanizing? Do you believe that he didn’t want Lydia dead? Is what he did, in the name of his daughter, any less paternal than what Lydia does for Luca is maternal?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-03-05 20:59:22 UTC

"She prays that he won't survive his mutilation, that merciful death comes quickly for him. More fervently, she prays that whatever impression the incident has on Luca, it won't cause him any further harm. Surely her son may soon reach a limit of what a resilient child might endure without triggering some permanent internal decay." Based on the article from The National Association of School Psychologists, what stuck with you as something we (as educators) can do?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-03-05 21:11:10 UTC

"Lydia is constantly reminded that her education has no purchase here, that she has no access to the kind of information that has real currency on this journey." (page 212)

What are your thoughts regarding this statement?

Rebeca and Soledad bring so much insight to Lydia's journey. We have students sitting in our classrooms everyday who may not show their intelligence on data points, but can bring SO much knowledge to our classrooms and discussions. How can we tap into ALL students' prior knowledge and what they can bring to the table in everyday lessons?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-03-05 21:14:16 UTC

What are your biggest "takeaways" from this section. Please elaborate on your thoughts!

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-05-03 18:11:06 UTC

“But the moment of the crossing has already passed, and she didn’t even realize it had happened. She never looked back, never committed any small act of ceremony to help launch her into the new life on the other side. Nothing can be undone. Adelante” (chapter 30, page 323). Do you think Lydia is better or worse off for not having known about the moment of her boundary crossing? What importance do rituals have in marking milestones in our lives? Can the done be undone, the past rewinded?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-05-03 18:12:35 UTC

Toward the end of the novel, Soledad “sticks her hand through the fence and wiggles her fingers on the other side. Her fingers are in el norte. She spits through the fence. Only to leave a piece of herself there on American dirt” (chapter 28, page 301). Why do you think Soledad spits over the border? Is doing so a victory for her?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-05-03 18:13:41 UTC

“I heard if your life is in danger wherever you come from, they’re not allowed to send you back there.”

To Lydia it sounds like mythology, but she can’t help asking anyway, “You have to be Central American? To apply for asylum?”

Beto shrugs. “Why? Your life in danger?”

Lydia sighs. “Isn’t everyone’s?”

(chapter 26, page 277)

If you were writing the rules for asylum eligibility, what would they be?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-05-03 18:14:24 UTC

When Luca finally crosses over to the United States, he’s disappointed: “The road below is nothing like the roads Luca imagined he’d encounter in the USA. He thought every road here would be broad as a boulevard, paved to perfection, and lined with fluorescent shopfronts. This road is like the crappiest Mexican road he’s ever seen. Dirt, dirt, and more dirt” (chapter 31, page 329). Discuss the significance of the title, AMERICAN DIRT. What do you think the author means by it?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-05-03 18:14:46 UTC

The term “American” only appears once in the novel. Did you notice? Why do you think the author made this choice?

Respond

lkkalkhoff — 2024-05-03 18:16:47 UTC

How has your opinion/beliefs/feelings changed about newcomer students and/or immigrants since reading this book?

2024-05-06 14:51:57 UTC

Ballard

I do feel like ceremonies or rituals help us to close a chapter of our lives and move on to a new chapter. But I agree that knowing the exact moment she was on American soil might have meant that she let down her guard and it was probably good that she didn't know. Maybe instead she could implement a ritual on the same day each year.