Narrator Yareli Arizmendi illuminates the humanity and individuality of Latin American migrants as they flee toward refuge in the North. The account of Lydia and Luca’s travails, including terrifying rides atop Mexico’s freight trains, is utterly compelling. But it is Arizmendi’s voicing of Lydia, so full of fierce tenderness, that will stay with listeners after the story’s close.

— AudioFile Magazine

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Jeannine Cummins’ controversial novel begins at a family party in Acapulco with Lydia and her 8-year-old son, Luca, hiding in terror as cartel assassins kill the 16 other guests. Cummins reads her own afterword, and Mexican actor Yareli Arizmendi (Rosaura in the 1992 movie "Like Water for Chocolate") delivers the body of this suspenseful story in a low-pitched, brushed-gold voice.

-— Katherine A. Powers. Washington Post

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Jeanine Cummin’s novel, American Dirt is being hailed as a new American classic – for good reason. Narrator Yareli Arizmendi strikes just the right balance between exhilaration and anxiety, as the story follows a young  woman and her eight-year-old son fleeing cartel violence at home to find asylum north in the United States. Their journey is long and dangerous, but with Cummins and Arizmendi leading you along with them, you’ll cherish every moment. 

— PASTE