Book Review

AMERICAN DIRT BY JEANINE CUMMINS

Review by Jo O’Brien

American Dirt is a modernday Grapes of Wrath that follows the sometimes terrifying but often uplifting journey of Lydia and her eight-year-old son, Luca as they make their way on the run to a chance at new life in America.

Lydia is a wife, mother and a bookworm. She lives in Acapulco, owns a bookshop and loves poetry. On her shelves, she stocks her favorite books – mostly obscure titles. Then one day, a customer picks up not one but two of these favorite titles, strikes up a conversation and from there blossoms a warm and genuine friendship.

Unbeknownst to Lydia, her charming new friend is the reigning drug cartel’s boss that has overtaken the city. One miscalculated judgement descends into a shocking family massacre, a graphic scene of carnage that Luca and Lydia must escape. Fleeing from the brutal but innocent-sounding Cartel los jardineros and their chilling promise to hunt down and kill to the last family member - they leave their comfortable and typical suburban lives in Mexico.

With few options and people to trust, mother and son are transformed into migrants. They do the unthinkable; they ride ‘The Beast’ - an unpredictable and traumatic train ride that that hope will eventually take them into the United States. The people they meet on the way change their journey and their lives for the better and worse, with kindness and grief in equal measure.

In her book, Jeanne Cummins gives a face and voice to migrants everywhere who flee violence and near-certain death in search of a chance at life. It’s impossible not to feel empathy for the characters, who could easily be our own family members. This novel broadens and deepens the readers understanding about migrants. American Dirt is a gripping book about a difficult subject; yet radiates optimism as the characters strive towards a new life with a glimmer of hope.

The adrenaline-pumping story makes this a very compelling and emotional read and the sensitivity, care and complexity of the subject mean that you’ll be thinking about this book long after the last page is turned.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jo O’Brien is a chartered senior civil engineer at Tonkin who manages Tonkin’s QLD Operations. She is a member of IPWEAQ’s SEQ Branch.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

IPWEAQ is pleased to be producing a series of six storybooks – Adventures in Engineering – showcasing Queensland-based engineering projects and the engineers involved. Covering the range of public works projects existing in Queensland, we are including coastal engineering, flood management, drought management, recycling, stormwater pipe management, and natural disaster mitigation. These stories are aimed at children aged nine to eleven and incorporate elements of the Australian Curriculum - Science for students in Years 4, 5 and 6. We aim to promote the vital role public works engineers have in our community to primary school-aged children to inspire them to pursue a career in STEM and public works engineering specifically. We are enjoying our collaboration with the six selected engineers and their projects to highlight the many benefits public works engineering has to the Queensland community and how rewarding a career in this industry can be.

We look forward to students learning more about the care, critical thinking, research, and expertise that our public works professionals put into these projects for many years to come.