Mirta Ojito

I knew very little about the Mariel boatlift, save snippets of what I heard on the news. My family had come from Cuba right after the revolution -- my brother and I were babies and, of course, unaware of what was happening. When my grandparents came out of Cuba in the mid-60s, I started hearing about how difficult everything was and how many people wanted to get out. This book fills in the gaps in my knowledge about life in Cuba during that time. Mirta Ojita grew up under Castro and was annoyed at her parents for wanting to leave, after all -- her entire life was in Cuba. She and her parents left Cuba on the Mariel boatlift when she was 15, and she later became a journalist. This memoir recounts her trying to find out how it all came about. It is well-written and researched, using her own personal oddyssey as a starting point.… (more)

Very thoroughly researched, Hunting Season reveals the plight of immigrants in the United States by highlighting a specific, horrific incident: the murder of Marcero Lucero. An Ecuadorean immigrant, Lucero was taking a late-night walk with a friend when a group of suburban high school boys on the search for "beaners" to attack, stabbed him to death in Patchogue, a Long Island suburb.

Author Mirta Ojito presents a clear, engaging narrative laying the backdrop for this hate crime, and unraveling its consequences, from the political rhetoric amping up white hatred towards Latinos in the area to the individual family histories of each character in the narrative. A long-time journalist, Ojito extracts her facts primarily from personal interviews, and it's clear she's spent months immersed in their stories. Though the book is nonfiction, its narrative is as compelling as fiction — and all the more disturbing because it's not. Tying the tragic murder of Lucero to a wider crisis in immigration policy, and a growing anti-immigrant fervor, Hunting Season speaks with a urgent relevance.

For all its strength, why the missing star? When delving into the stories of Lucero's killer(s), Ojito tries, it seems, to partially absolve them of responsibility, placing the blame instead on the state governor, whose inflammatory xenophobic words and policies heightened tensions in the state. I was troubled by this move, because, as much as the governor deserves to be held accountable for his speech and actions, the boy who drove a knife into Lucero's chest can blame no one but himself. This aspect of the book weakens its anti-racist critique, but even so I hope Hunting Season serves as an important wakeup call to American society.

Note: I received a free copy of the book through the First Reads program.… (more)

This book made me angry; it wasn't because of how it was written or anything of that sort, no, it was because I had heard nothing about this incident.

Granted, I don't watch the news as much, but certainly someone would have told me about such an event. However, nothing, I don't remember hearing anything of the sort about this event that is chronicled, fairly expertly, in this book.

I know that racism is still alive and kicking in our country and I know that many people are against immigrants coming into our country. I also know there is a lot of people against illegal immigrants. But to the extent that is talked about in this book is appalling and it's even more appalling that more incidents go unreported out of fear of the police or knowledge that the police will do nothing to help them.

It is an eye-opening read. While many people are aware of the turmoil surrounding the issue or the fact some people have extreme reviews in regard to it, sometimes you don't think about it in terms of violence because you just hear the rhetoric. That and sometimes the news that is reported to different parts of the country doesn't acknowledge these kinds of happenings because it isn't what is bringing in the viewings or ratings.

I highly suggest that people read this book. It is well-researched and well-written. It doesn't just focus on the death of Lucero, but how immigrants came to be in that town, the background of others, his story, and how the news impacted the nation and how the nation impacted the event. It makes one think and it makes one want to be part of the solution that puts an end to the senseless violence that people face just based on how they look or are perceived.

(*Note: I was given a free copy of the book & cd in exchange for an honest review from the author through Goodreads Giveaways.)… (more)