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Through his novel The Broke Hearts, Matt Mendez shares a story that spans generations and blurs genres. A sequel to Barely Missing Everything, the style of this follow-up is unique in that multiple stories are being conveyed within its pages. Told from various view points and with screen play scripts, flashbacks, and Lotería cards interwoven in the prose, The Broke Hearts illustrates how the past never leaves us and how “being a warrior is about doing the hard thing every time” (4). Mendez also shares insight about having hopes and dreams but how life gets in the way with moments of heart break. JD SanchezRead More →

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Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes – Protagonist Yamilet Flores cares about only two things: 1. Protecting her younger brother and 2. Hiding her sexual orientation from everyone at her new Catholic school. After being outed by the girl she’d thought of as her best friend at her previous school, Yami is determined to protect her secret at all costs. Something that grows increasingly difficult as her feelings for Bo, the only openly gay girl at school, grow as well. At home, Yami struggles to feel supported by the people in her life. Through snide remarks, Yami knows that her mom considers beingRead More →

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Fifteen Reasons to Love the Novel, Love in English It’s dedicated to “everyone who has ever strained to find the [right] words” to accurately express their thoughts and feelings. Maria E. Andreu writes with authenticity from the immigrant experience and perspective, but she also writes to those of us who feel “foreign” or who sense a feeling of other—“some nameless thing [we] can feel but not fix” (13). Many of the chapters close with idiomatically clever poems as the protagonist, Ana, plays with language. These not only capture her confusion but convey her learning. The novel is peppered with Spanish, as well as hashtags (####)Read More →