February 15, 2023
Danger closes in on a young fashionista. Maya Silva goes to Salom� Fashion Institute, Guatemala's most prestigious fashion school. Though she lives in a small house with her mom in a neighborhood where it's been increasingly dangerous lately, at school Maya can focus only on fashion, which gives her a sense of purpose. And she's promising, too--talented enough to have a scholarship at age 16 and to rank in the top 10. However, when Lisbeth, her best friend, starts dating Oscar, a guy Maya has a bad feeling about, things become worrying and confusing. Then Maya gets romantically involved with Oscar's cousin Sebastian. As gang violence closes in, Mama decides they should move back to her hometown, San Marcos, but Maya isn't ready to give up her life in Guatemala City. They agree to stay put until the fashion show is over as long as Maya focuses exclusively on her preparations. But that is hard; Maya fears she's losing her dreams for the future. Then she discovers something dark about Oscar that means leaving behind everything she's known as she and her mother try to flee to the U.S. The book illustrates the violent consequences of structural poverty, as readers are introduced to characters trying to do the best they can with what they've been handed. Their desperation is communicated vividly as well as their determination to keep their loved ones safe. An engrossing exploration of youths and gang violence. (Fiction. 14-18)
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March 27, 2023
In this heart-wrenching tale by De Leon (Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From), gang violence forces a teen from her neighborhood in Guatemala. Sixteen-year-old Maya’s love of trashion—incorporating repurposed and recycled materials into clothing—earns her a scholarship to Salomé Fashion Institute, an elite local academy. After showcasing her talents at school, she even makes a list of the year’s top 10 designers, granting her entrance to design for Salomé’s annual spring fashion show. But when her mother reveals her plan to move them from Guatemala City, and away from increasing gang violence, to San Marcos, Maya fears giving up everything she’s worked so hard to achieve. The move will require her to withdraw from the fashion show, preventing her from obtaining the winner’s prize money and opportunity to sell her designs to a boutique, and her budding romance with the cousin of a gang member is also on the line. Things get more complicated when Maya witnesses a murder, prompting Maya and her mom to flee to the U.S. Characters navigating conflicting loyalties imbue the narrative with an intense, edge-of-the-seat tone, but De Leon’s strength lies in the novel’s intimate and immediate prose, which sheds light on harsh realities surrounding structural financial precarity and forced migration. Ages 14–up. Agent: Faye Bender, Book Group.
April 15, 2023
Grades 8-11 This tense, plot-driven story of a mother and daughter threatened by gang violence is De Leon's second novel, following Don't Ask Me Where I'm From (2020). At 16, Maya is a promising, focused student at Salom� Fashion Institute in Guatemala City, where her trashion designs win her a place at the annual fashion show. First prize could make the dream of having her own label a reality. Two weeks before the show, Maya's best friend, Lisbeth, introduces her new boyfriend. Maya knows something is off about him, but she still falls hard for his friend Sebastian, who seems thoughtful and supportive. Soon after, Maya's mother declares that they must move away, far from the mareros infiltrating their neighborhood. But it's too late: Maya witnesses a crime that sends them fleeing for the U.S. Despite some clumsy writing, this is recommended for its authentic teen voice, close mother-daughter relationship, and especially for its affecting depictions of daily life in Guatemala and the dehumanizing experience of entering the U.S. as an asylum seeker.
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Starred review from July 28, 2023
Gr 9 Up-De Leon (Don't Ask Me Where I'm From) tackles stereotypes and thoroughly unravels reductive narratives about immigration in this excellent work. Maya has hopes and dreams of a career in fashion design, winning a school contest, and living her best life in Guatemala City. She attends a well-funded 21st-century private school, has deep generational ties to her community, and a best friend she loves like a sister. This is also a love letter to Guatemala, rich in volcanoes, ancestral villages, textiles, cuisine, f�tbol, and the Xetulul theme park. But when Maya witnesses a murder, she and her mother must flee their beloved country to save their lives, and the rest of the novel becomes a fast-paced race to the U.S. border. They are captured as they cross the Rio Grande, and the novel shifts from the suspense genre into a documentary of the detailed horror of the detention and dehumanization experienced by migrants from the global south. The asylum process reduces Maya's choices to staying in the U.S. and "making something new from the wreckage" of her life, or going back to Guatemala to reunite with her deported mother. This is an important work that provides readers a nuanced look at a community that is often spoken of with disparaging clich�s: illegal, poor, illiterate. De Leon's novel offers readers an access point to a more complete picture of asylum seekers and a thoughtful reflection for those who have lived through a similar experience. VERDICT Seamlessly woven elements result in a poignant, coming-of-age novel. A standout title.-Stephanie Creamer
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