It has been nearly a year since I first partnered with The Whistling Kettle to offer a discount on their tea products to my readers. I don’t like to gush about my favorite drink as if it were a special interest or hobby. What we put into our bodies should not be part of our identities. But tea and reading tend to go hand in hand for many. So, I thought it was a great idea for The Whistling Kettle to form their own book club and pair it with a different flavor of tea each month.
The month of May features the best-selling novel American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins paired with The Whistling Kettle’s chocolate chai. If you haven’t already, find a copy of the book to read, and on May 25th, join The Whistling Kettle on their Facebook and Instagram pages to discuss the book and the tea.
You can also get 20 percent off the month’s featured tea using my usual code, laurasbooksandblogs. You can also get 10 percent off your first order of anything in their online catalog using this code.
American Dirt plot summary
This month’s book club pick, American Dirt opens with a violent massacre at a quinceañera in Acapulco. The shooting leaves 16 family members dead. Our protagonist, Lydia, and her eight-year-old son, Luca, survive the shooting. Afterwards, Lydia learns that her family was targeted by the cartel’s drug lord, Javier, after her reporter husband and one of the deceased, Sebastian, exposed Javier to the public.
Though Sebastian was killed in the shooting, Lydia fears that Javier will come for her and Luca next. So, she and Luca flee their home for the USA. Armed with their savings and little else, Lydia and Luca embark on a journey that has them hopping trains, riding in the backs of vans, and trekking across the desert to safety.
Along the way, they meet a collection of characters, both good and bad. And Lydia is forced into several tough decisions which tear her between saving her son and keeping her morality intact.
The controversy
I choose to participate in The Whistling Kettle’s May book club after reading a general plot synopsis of the book and making sure that the tea flavor was one that I would be sure to enjoy. As a white American, I’m not one to judge the authenticity of a story about Mexican immigrants. And it wasn’t until after I finished reading that I scrolled through online reviews and found a mixed bag of ratings and a ton of controversy surrounding this book.
The main issue that other readers have had with this book is that the author has zero personal experience with the subject matter, and she has no Mexican blood running through her family history. I can completely understand taking issue with the fact that this author would not have firsthand knowledge of what it’s like to cross the border in desperation similar to Lydia and Luca anymore than I would. We do have to be sensitive to stories that reflect real and timely experiences in order to make sure that we’re not inadvertently putting out harmful stereotypes or stealing the spotlight from more reputable voices.
That being said, I don’t believe that a book review should incorporate a person’s own personal politics into their rating. Anyone who had knowledge of this controversy beforehand should not have even bothered to read the book, and they should have spoken out about it in a format separate from a book review which is primarily meant for judging the quality of the writing, the story, the characters, and the content.
You can call out stereotypical or harmful ideas in a story, you can warn other readers who share your personal preferences about any issues that you have with certain types of content or language, and you can definitely say that a book wasn’t for you. But to spend your entire review talking about issues that you have outside of the text itself is not an effective or appropriate place in which to do so.
The story
I read American Dirt as an audiobook. The book is read by Yareli Arizmendi, a Mexican actress whose narration really brought Lydia especially to life. Reading it as an audiobook kept me from mispronouncing words or names and really helped to keep the focus on the story and characters.
The story is essentially a harrowing road trip tale which highlights some of the dangers that we do hear about in news stories about immigrating from Mexico to the United States. But we also get to experience it while looking over the shoulders of Lydia and Luca whose distinct thoughts and feelings about their situation are chronicled throughout the book through flashbacks and deep dives into their psyches. Knowing them inside and out helps the reader to root for them as more than just stock characters in a life or death predicament.
Having Luca with Lydia creates and added danger as no one wants to see anything happen to this little boy who is obedient, brave, and wise beyond his years. Luca appears to be up for the challenge mentally, but physically, you do worry for him. He both literally and figuratively finds his voice along the journey and forms his own opinions about right and wrong. While his mother is fighting to keep him safe, he fights to keep other deserving people safe.
My review
American Dirt does run a bit long. While this helps to highlight the enormity of their journey, it definitely drags in places. I also didn’t feel the overwhelming presence of Javier on their tails. It was mostly the dangers ahead of them, not behind them, that were more pressing, and while the shooting served as an appropriate inciting incident for this journey, I didn’t feel like a two-dimensional bad guy was needed to enforce the urgency of making it to the US.
I also would have liked to have seen more from Luca’s point of view. His sophisticated yet still youthful perspective would have really helped to create a better understanding of this journey from another heroic angle.
Maybe the biggest stereotypical fault in the story itself would be glorifying the US as a utopia. As an outsider, I’ve witnessed enough in the news, in my work, and with my own two eyes to know that, very similar to Europeans crossing the oceans to the United States, Mexican immigrants will not find cities paved with gold. However, I can appreciate how putting an international border between two pieces of land can feel comforting when it comes to wanting to be protected from the dangers that you’ve left behind.
American Dirt presents a nice mix of characters, understandably high stakes, and a very topical conflict. I honestly had no problem getting through the audiobook. I listened to about an hour of the nearly 17-hour book each day, but I didn’t find myself rushing to return to the story. So, I would rate it three out of five stars, but I doubt I’ll be rereading it at any point.
Chocolate chai
The chocolate chai flavor from The Whistling Kettle is a black tea that contains ginger, cocoa beans, cinnamon, cardamom, black and white pepper, clove, nutmeg, and white cornflower. One teaspoon is brewed at 212 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 to 10 minutes.
The unbrewed tea has a strong chocolate flavor that is firmly distributed into the water. It’s essentially hot chocolate with the consistency of a regular tea. Adding sugar amplifies the sweetness, of course, but the chocolate is a welcome presence whether additions are made or not. It’s a guilt-free treat for anyone looking for a chocolate fix without the ridiculously high calories or the unnatural flavors.
Chocolate chai resonates with the title of the book as its deep, bold color stands in for the American Dirt in which the characters strive to reach. It’s the sweet, bold, and comforting drink to go along with a determined and intense story.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of American Dirt here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales. Also, don’t forget to check out the book discussion online on Saturday, May 25th!
Buy a bag of chocolate chai from The Whistling Kettle here, and get 20 percent off using my code laurasbooksandblogs.
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The chocolate chai tea sounds delicious!