Ander and Santi Were Here is a book that I had been anticipating for a long time. I went to the author’s event and bought a signed copy. Then, I listened to the audiobook. I loved the narrator who did an amazing job. Their voice captured the character and pulled me into the story.
It is a beautiful love story about a Mexican-American nonbinary teen who falls in love with an undocumented Mexican boy. Ander is an artist, and Santi takes a job at their family’s Mexican restaurant.
The story resonated with me because my family came to the United States as undocumented immigrants, and the scenes with ICE and the possibility of Ander and Santi being separated were haunting and heartbreaking.
The Santos Vista neighbourhood of San Antonio, TX is all Ander Lopez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce, the laughter of kids hitting a pinata at the park, the mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially, their job at the family's taqueria. So as the days count down on their gap year until the day they'll leave for art school in Chicago, their head is filled with one relentless question: am I really ready to leave it all behind?
Their family, however, has the opposite worry: to keep them from becoming complacent, they "fire" Ander…
In Breathe and Count Back From Ten, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, wants to be mermaid in a mermaid show at a theme park in her town.
I related to this book so much as an immigrant to this country. There is a quote in the book that really resonated with me. Veronica is talking about her parents “who constantly remind you, either in words or by actions, that the endless hard work they endure in this country is so you can have a better life than they did.”
I really felt this growing up. I knew I had to work hard in everything I did to honor their sacrifices. There were so many important themes in this book, and is an essential book for teens.
In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Veronica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.
Veronica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body.
Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . .…
It tells the story of teenager Sam Sakamoto in the months leading up to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Sam wants to be a photographer and uses a borrowed camera to begin documenting the injustices she sees in her community as her family and others of Japanese descent are targeted.
This book was powerful, heartbreaking, and anger-inducing. It tells an important story that must never be forgotten or downplayed through the eyes of a young, ambitious, studious, and courageous teenage girl.
Stunning, devastating, poignant: Debut author Emily Inouye Huey paints an intimate portrait of the racism faced by America's Japanese population during WWII. Perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys and Sharon Cameron.
Sam Sakamoto doesn't have space in her life for dreams. With the recent death of her mother, Sam's focus is the farm, which her family will lose if they can't make one last payment. There's no time for her secret and unrealistic hope of becoming a photographer, no matter how skilled she's become. But Sam doesn't know that an even bigger threat looms on the horizon.
It’s been six months since Sarah’s mom died. Three months since her dad fell apart. With her dad’s drinking out of control, Sarah struggles to make sure that the bills are paid, that her brother is safe, that her dad’s grief won’t crush them all. She has no time to find out if her cute classmate, David Garza, could be more than a friend.
A school project prompts Sarah to delve into her mom’s Mexican and Guatemalan roots. As she learns more about this side of her heritage, Sarah starts to understand her mom better―and starts to face her own grief. Sarah realizes she can’t carry her pain silently anymore. She has to speak up.
