‘You Sound Like A White Girl’ Review and Interview with Julissa Arce

You Sound Like A White Girl: The Case For Rejecting Assimilation by Julissa Arce is an empowering, revealing, bold and most importantly, necessary book. It is a perfect book club selection filled with many points of discussion. — In just about 200 pages, the author uses this book to present the case that assimilation is a trap, “a matter of survival,” that is by no means meant for our liberation. It’s a reminder to the reader that Latino history is American history.

As a formerly undocumented immigrant from Mexico, who arrived to San Antonio, Texas, in 1994, Arce uses her life journey and her path to citizenship, to recount historical events. By doing this, she outlines the deep rooted racism in America and how this has shaped the Latino culture.

Arce does a beautiful job of writing history in a digestible and engaging way. It does not only educate but leaves the reader wanting more; our histories have been blurred for far too long. Just in the first few pages, you learn about the Mexican-American War and how that later shaped what is today Texas, California and New Mexico, Segregation cases like Roberto Alvarez v. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District, where race and language questioned the identity and the belonging of Mexican-Americans, and how The Great Depression and World War II can also serve as points of reference to the disadvantage, exploitation and mistreatment that overshadow people of color.

Our systems are flawed and Arce believes that the only way to see true change is by imaging and implementing completely new systems, devoid of racist and discriminatory foundations. Once we start seeing true justice with “representation, equality, intersection and freedom” then we can start believing in an America that’s for the people.

I left this book with this notion: Leaning into ideals of “whiteness” will only keep people of color in an ongoing journey to “prove themselves.” Rejecting assimilation is embracing the uniqueness in our heritages; our greatest strength.

“…one of the most painful aspects of assimilation: the loss of our heritage, language, and family” —Julissa Arce, You Sound Like A White Girl

I had the opportunity of asking Julissa Arce a few questions about her book. She discusses the ideas of colonization that are still present today in our communities, the importance of speaking our truth and of course provides us with some great recommended reads.

TG: One of my favorite parts about reading this book was how you intertwined your personal experiences with historical events, in order to give context, further elevate a point and/or for educational purposes. With the vast Latinx history that exists, how did you decide which ones to highlight? And how difficult was it conducting all of the research? You mentioned that many events aren't digitized and are only available through printed records.

JA: The history that I share in the book barely begins to scratch the surface of the history of Latinos in the United States. One of the hardests things to do was to decide what to keep in and what to leave out. Ultimately, it was my personal experiences that informed what historical stories I should include to make a point that the issues that impact our communities have deep roots. 

At first, it was challenging to find books that discussed American identity through the lens of Latinos. Oftentimes books only included a paragraph, or a chapter, but then I looked at their notes sections and found source material. It was a journey! 

And now I have material for many more books!

TG: You discuss the complexity in Latinidad and how white supremacy has made it so that we are constantly against each other; aspiring and measuring the amounts of whiteness that one can possess, whether physically, materialistically or idealistically. You wrote, "We have to face the fact that a Latino doesn't exist without the violence, rape, and genocide of Indigenous peoples carried out by European colonizers. A Latino doesn't take shape without the brutal history of slavery." How does one start breaking away from this type of thinking that has been passed down for generations; sometimes it being so ingrained in us that we are blinded to it.

JA: It is a long process to unburden ourselves from the ideas of colonization that are very much still alive in our communities. For me, a starting point was learning the history-- that’s why it takes up so much space in the book. To understand, and then breakaway, we have to start at the beginning. It was also helpful to uncover the history behind phrases we hear every day- like “marry someone who is lighter skin para mejorar la raza.” That was a literal way, the only way, people in colonial times could have access to better opportunities. But if colonial times are technically over, why are we still subjecting ourselves to those harmful systems? 

It’s a process-- but we have to start somewhere.

TG: You have moments where you talk about confronting a racist or a friend who makes a racist remark. You talk about how hard it feels because we are conditioned to feel uncomfortable for the privileged. What's your advice for situations like this? Many people want to speak up to loved ones, friends, that frustrating neighbor but are unsure of how to; one thing that I am learning is that silence and avoidance gets us nowhere.

JA: Exactly- silence gets us nowhere. So my best advice is short and simple- speak up! It is going to be uncomfortable, you might lose some people, but that’s ok! The more we speak truth, the easier it gets.

TG: The census. I was so happy to see you brought it up. I found your idea of having "Latino" as a race so interesting. What I appreciated the most about this was the fact that you were making it a point to explain that a system that was created can also be altered to better accommodate the needs of the people. How can we organize to make changes to something as important as the census? Though enraged by it, the only reason that I filled it out was because I learned how it helps our communities and neighborhoods to obtain the proper federal funding and representation for our needs, but if every Latino/a/x is putting "other" or "white," we will never truly see the changes that are needed.

JA: Elections matter. I didn’t know this until I finished writing the book. But the 2020 Census was supposed to have a “Latino” race option. And the former President nixxed it, along with adding the citizenship question that was ultimately taken out. But we have to keep pushing our elected officials so that we are more accurately counted. So our issues are more present.

TG:Educating ourselves to break away from assimilation, approval and acceptance from white people; to ultimately "rejecting the notion that success is found in whiteness" is a central theme in YOU SOUND LIKE A WHITE GIRL. Apart from this wonderfully written text, what other books do you recommend?

JA:

• A Latinx and African American History of the United States

• I am Joaquin

• Manifest Destinies & Inventing Latinos

• Finding Latinx

• A Wicked War

• A Ballad of Love and Glory

• Olga Dies Dreaming 

• Citizen Illegal

• The Likeability Trap

…… There are so many!!

TG: With all of the great learnings from this book, what is the one thing that you wish for readers to walk away with?

JA: I want them to walk into every room in their gorgeous Brown bodies and know that they deserve to be there. I hope they start conversations with their families and friends and get curious to learn more about our history.

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Julissa Arce is a nationally recognized author, sought-after speaker, producer, and social changemaker. She is the best-selling author of My (Underground) American Dream and Someone Like Me. Arce is a Crooked media contributor and a frequent writer for TIME Magazine, and has provided political commentary across numerous TV networks including NBC News, Bloomberg TV, CNN, and MSNBC. She is the cofounder of the Ascend Educational Fund, a college scholarship and mentorship program for immigrant students regardless of their immigration status. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Tiffany Gonzalez is the Marketing Manager at Astra House. She previously worked in Production at HarperCollins Publishers. She has worked on the Publicity and Marketing campaign for Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada-Oliva and on the Marketing campaigns for Becoming Abolitionists by Derecka Purnell, The Sex Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa Sekiyamah and The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela. She has earned her Bachelors and Master's degrees from Rutgers University - NB. She is Dominican-American and fluid in Spanish. You can follow her on Instagram @wandering_tiff_ or visit her website at wanderingtiff.com

#SalaSundays with Renate Chalk

Renate Chalk hosted our instagram on May 22nd for our weekly #SalaSundays series.

Latinx in Pub (LxP): What do you do?

Renate Chalk (RC): I work with a team to create marketing strategies and plans for HarperCollins Focus’ books and authors. These strategies are tied to tangible KPIs that we aim to hit prior to the launch of a title as well as after launch. I love using data to make informed marketing decisions that are specifically catered to an author’s target market, and historical data and benchmarking analysis are really important to my work. Each author and their audience are so wonderfully unique, that each one requires a unique approach.

LxP: How did you get started?

RC: I got started in publishing by simply taking a change on myself and applying online to a job that seemed interesting to me and one in which I had most of the skills for. While I had never worked in marketing books or their related podcasts, tv shows, and other items, I had previously worked in marketing and knew I could learn the nuances of the publishing industry.

LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?

RC: I can’t think of anything I wished I knew. I am okay with not knowing and learning along the way. One thing that did surprise me and I LOVE is how collaborative it is. I am highly extroverted and love the opportunity to work with our editors and public relations team, and enjoy all the partnerships that come along with being in this industry.

LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?

RC: I am working on “How am I Doing?” by Corey Yeager, and a book with Reba McEntire whose title will be released soon! I am currently reading Finding Me by Viola Davis, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and Violeta by Isabel Allende. I’m also looking forward to Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera.

Renate Chalk is a Senior Marketing Manager at HarperCollins Publishers on the HarperCollins Focus imprint. She has been in publishing for about 2 years, but a marketer for 10 years. She did her undergraduate work at NYU where she majored in Economics. After beginning her career in operations, she returned to NYU for a graduate certificate in Marketing and Brand Management as she transitioned to marketing.

Review: The Book of Wanderers by Reyes Ramirez

The Book of Wanderers by Reyes Ramirez is a debut collection of short stories that follows those of Mexican and Salvadoran descent living in Houston and beyond. The Houstonian writer, who is also Mexican and Salvadoran, is no stranger to the art of writing. Reyes has been the recipient of fellowships, received grants, and has been the finalist in various contests, all of which you can find on his website. His collection of short stories is a testimony to these well-deserved recognitions. 

The debut is composed of 10 unique worlds and characters across three chapters. These wanderers consist of laborers, a renowned curandera, a driver, a zombie-and-neo-Nazi fighter, and more. Something that stands out about Reyes’ debut is that almost every story is presented in a different genre. Readers are able to digest many categories while Reyes is able to introduce his many strengths as a writer. Two stories that stood out to me the most were “Lilia” and “An Adventure of Xuxa, La Última.” An honorable mention is “Ximena DeLuna v. The New Mars Territory. 

In “Lilia,” we meet a rideshare driver in mourning. Layla was partying with her friends when they called the driver to take her home. They get stuck behind a train and, from here, an honest conversation is exchanged. Layla catches him in a lie (or in his words, a “half-truth”) and when he tells her his true sorrows, she stays silent. In turn, when he tells the truth that Layla needs to hear about these “friends” that dumped her in his car, she again goes silent. There’s something about sharing your story with a stranger that you’ll know for a very short time that feels… freeing. In that short time, there’s no room for judgment. They don’t know enough about you to be critical. All they can do is listen, just like Layla. We can only guess the fateful day that the driver is mourning and we may never truly know the details of Layla and who she is. As readers, we may never be able to receive closure on these characters. And that’s what sticks with me. 

“An Adventure of Xuxa, La Última” is an action-packed story with two coinciding fights: one against a zombie overlord and one against a Nazi general. Xuxa wanders from settlement to settlement warning them about the impending arrival of Mil Fuegos, a zombie overlord committing genocide against the human race. However, the next group she encounters is also ensuring the erasure of certain groups of people. A Nazi general and his camp capture Xuxa and force her to rewrite history books to fit their racist agenda of a Whites Only society. With the inevitable arrival of Mil Fuegos, instead of warning the entire camp, she helps plan the escape only for the “brown and black and varying shades of both” who have been oppressed by the hand of the Nazi General. I love a good zombie story, and with the added conflict of fighting racists and keeping the true history of your culture alive? I’m all in.

Reyes Ramirez has said before that multiple sources of inspiration were found for his stories. It shows through his excellent execution of these otherworldly dimensions. While these two stories stuck with me the most, there are more unique plots and genres that can appeal to a lot of readers. The Book of Wanderers has left me with a sense of longing for wanderers that we are honored with meeting for only a few pages.

Book content warnings: death, murder, violence, genocide

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Melissa Gonzalez (she/her) is a UCLA graduate with a major in American Literature & Culture and a minor in Chicana/o & Central American Studies. She loves boba, horror movies, and reading. You can spot her in the fiction, horror/mystery/thriller, and young adult sections of bookstores. Though she is short, she feels as tall as her TBR pile. You can find Melissa on her book Instagram: @floralchapters

#SalaSundays with Ruben Reyes

Latinx in Pub (LxP): What do you do?

Ruben Reyes (RR): I'm an editorial assistant at Flatiron Books, working on non-fiction titles.

LxP: How did you get started?

RR: After graduating from my MFA program, I started looking for jobs in New York City and landed at Flatiron at a friends' recommendation. I did some freelance research and fact-checking work in college which gave me some of the skills I use now.

LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?

RR: I've learned A LOT about the market in my first year--and I wish I had thought a bit more about how and why I picked up books before I started this job.

LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?

RR: I'm working on a wild but amazing collection of essays by actress Betty Gilipin called ALL THE WOMEN IN MY BRAIN: AND OTHER CONCERNS, which comes out in September. I'm currently reading PILAR RAMIREZ AND THE ESCAPE FROM ZAFA by Julian Randall, which I'm also loving.

Ruben Reyes is the son of two Salvadoran immigrants. Prior to joining Flatiron in 2021, he taught literature and creative writing at the University of Iowa. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a bachelor's in History & Literature from Harvard College.

May 2022 Latinx Releases

On-Sale May 3rd, 2022

INHERITANCE by Elizabeth Acevedo, illustrated by Andrea Pippins | Visual Poem

In her most famous spoken-word poem, author of the Pura Belpré-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo embraces all the complexities of Black hair and Afro-Latinidad—the history, pain, pride, and powerful love of that inheritance.

Paired with full-color illustrations by artist Andrea Pippins in a format that will appeal to fans of Mahogany L. Browne’s Black Girl Magic or Jason Reynolds’s For Everyone, this poem can now be read in a vibrant package, making it the ideal gift, treasure, or inspiration for readers of any age.

BAD GIRLS by Camila Sosa Villada |Translation

In Sarmiento Park, the green heart of Córdoba, a group of trans sex workers make their nightly rounds. When a cry comes from the dark, their leader, the 178-year-old Auntie Encarna, wades into the brambles to investigate and discovers a baby half dead from the cold. She quickly rallies the pack to save him, and they adopt the child into their fascinating surrogate family as they have so many other outcasts, including Camila.

Sheltered in Auntie Encarna’s fabled pink house, they find a partial escape from the everyday threats of disease and violence, at the hands of clients, cops, and boyfriends. Telling their stories—of a mute young woman who transforms into a bird, of a Headless Man who fled his country’s wars—as well as her own journey from a toxic home in a small, poor town, Camila traces the life of this vibrant community throughout the 90s.

Imbuing reality with the magic of a dark fairy tale, Bad Girls offers an intimate, nuanced portrait of trans coming-of-age that captures a universal sense of the strangeness of our bodies. It grips and entertains us while also challenging ideas about love, sexuality, gender, and identity.

TRUST by Hernan Diaz | Historical Fiction

A timely story of two teenagers who discover the power of friendship, feminism, and standing up for what you believe in, no matter where you come from. A collaboration between two gifted authors writing from alternating perspectives, this compelling novel shines with authenticity, courage, and humor. 

Malena Rosario is starting to believe that catastrophes come in threes. First, Hurricane María destroyed her home, taking her unbreakable spirit with it. Second, she and her mother are now stuck in Florida, which is nothing like her beloved Puerto Rico. And third, when she goes to school bra-less after a bad sunburn and is humiliated by the school administration into covering up, she feels like she has no choice but to comply.

Ruby McAllister has a reputation as her school's outspoken feminist rebel. But back in Seattle, she lived under her sister’s shadow. Now her sister is teaching in underprivileged communities, and she’s in a Florida high school, unsure of what to do with her future, or if she’s even capable making a difference in the world. So when Ruby notices the new girl is being forced to cover up her chest, she is not willing to keep quiet about it.

Neither Malena nor Ruby expected to be the leaders of the school's dress code rebellion. But the girls will have to face their own insecurities, biases, and privileges, and the ups and downs in their newfound friendship, if they want to stand up for their ideals and––ultimately––for themselves.

THE HACIENDA by Isabel Cañas | Historical Fiction

During the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz's father was executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife's sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security that his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz's sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo's sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz's fears--but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark the doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will save her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz's doom.

DIARIES OF A TERRORIST by Christopher Soto | Poetry

This debut poetry collection demands the abolition of policing and human caging. In Diaries of a Terrorist, Christopher Soto uses the “we” pronoun to emphasize that police violence happens not only to individuals, but to whole communities. His poetics open the imagination towards possibilities of existence beyond the status quo. Soto asks, “Who do we call terrorist, & why”? These political surrealist poems shift between gut-wrenching vulnerability, laugh-aloud humor, and unapologetic queer punk raunchiness. Diaries of a Terrorist is groundbreaking in its ability to speak—from a local to a global scale—about one of the most important issues of our time.

VALLEYESQUE: STORIES by Fernando A. Flores | Adult Fiction

Psychedelic, dazzling stories set in the cracks of the Texas-Mexico borderland, from an iconoclastic storyteller and the author of Tears of the Trufflepig.

No one captures the border—its history and imagination, its danger, contradiction, and redemption—like Fernando A. Flores, whose stories reimagine and reinterpret the region’s existence with peerless style. In his immersive, uncanny borderland, things are never what they seem: a world where the sun is both rising and setting, and where conniving possums efficiently take over an entire town and rewrite its history.

The stories in Valleyesque dance between the fantastical and the hyperreal with dexterous, often hilarious flair. A dying Frédéric Chopin stumbles through Ciudad Juárez in the aftermath of his mother’s death, attempting to recover his beloved piano that was seized at the border, while a muralist is taken on a psychedelic journey by an airbrushed Emiliano Zapata T-shirt. A woman is engulfed by a used-clothing warehouse with a life of its own, and a grieving mother breathlessly chronicles the demise of a town decimated by violence. In two separate stories, queso dip and musical rhythms are bottled up and sold for mass consumption. And in the final tale, Flores pieces together the adventures of a young Lee Harvey Oswald as he starts a music career in Texas.

Swinging between satire and surrealism, grief and joy, Valleyesque is a boundary- and border-pushing collection from a one-of-a-kind stylist and voice. With the visceral imagination that made his debut novel, Tears of the Trufflepig, a cult classic, Flores brings his vision of the border to life—and beyond.

BURN DOWN, RISE UP by Vincent Tirado | Young Adult Fiction

Mysterious disappearances. An urban legend rumored to be responsible. And one group of friends determined to save their city at any cost. Stranger Things meets Jordan Peele in this utterly original debut from an incredible new voice.

For over a year, the Bronx has been plagued by sudden disappearances that no one can explain. Sixteen-year-old Raquel does her best to ignore it. After all, the police only look for the white kids. But when her crush Charlize's cousin goes missing, Raquel starts to pay attention―especially when her own mom comes down with a mysterious illness that seems linked to the disappearances.

Raquel and Charlize team up to investigate, but they soon discover that everything is tied to a terrifying urban legend called the Echo Game. The game is rumored to trap people in a sinister world underneath the city, and the rules are based on a particularly dark chapter in New York's past. And if the friends want to save their home and everyone they love, they will have to play the game and destroy the evil at its heart―or die trying.

On-Sale May 10th, 2022

GROWING AN ARTIST: THE STORY OF A LANDSCAPER AND HIS SON by John Parra | Picture Book

From award-winning artist John Parra comes a touching and deceptively simple picture book based on his childhood experience about the bond between a father and son, hard work, and the links between nature, art, and creativity.

Today is a big day—the first time Juanito gets to help his papi on the job as a landscape architect! Throughout the day, Juanito sketches anything that catches his eye: a nest full of baby birds, a nursery with row upon row of plants and flowers, and more. Father and son travel from house to house, pruning, weeding, mowing, and turning overgrown and chaotic yards into beautiful spaces.

A few of the clients don’t appreciate Papi’s hard work, like Juanito’s classmate who pretends not to see him. But Papi always feels pride in owning his own business and in a job well done. And at the end of the day, Juanito may get the chance to turn his artistic eye toward landscape design—just like his papi.

BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN by Natalia Sylvester | Young Adult Fiction

In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, 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.

Verónica 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 . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor.

She decides it’s time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her—the truth about her own body.

CAFE CON LYCHEE by Emery Lee | Young Adult Fiction

Theo Mori and Gabriel Moreno have always been at odds. Their parents own rival businesses—an Asian American café and a Puerto Rican bakery—and Gabi’s lack of coordination has cost their soccer team too many games to count.

Stuck in the closet and scared to pursue his own dreams, Gabi sees his parents’ shop as his future. Stuck under the weight of his parents’ expectations, Theo’s best shot at leaving Vermont means first ensuring his parents’ livelihood is secure. 

So when a new fusion café threatens both shops, Theo and Gabi realize an unfortunate truth—they can only achieve their goals by working together to cook up an underground bakery operation and win back their customers. But can they put aside their differences long enough to save their parents’ shops or will the new feelings between them boil over?

Linea Nigra by Jazmina Barrera | Translation

An intimate exploration of motherhood, Linea Nigra approaches the worries and joys of childbearing from a diverse range of inspirations and traditions, from Louise Bourgeois to Ursula K. Le Guin to the indigenous Nahua model Luz Jiménez. Part memoir and part manifesto, Barrera’s singular insights, delivered in candid prose, clarify motherhood while also cherishing the mysteries of the body.

Writing through her first pregnancy, birthing, breastfeeding, and young motherhood, Barrera embraces the subject fully, making lucid connections between maternity, earthquakes, lunar eclipses, and creative labor. Inspired by the author’s own mother’s painting practice, Linea Nigra concludes with an impassioned call: childbearing is art, and art is childbearing.

On-Sale May 17th, 2022

THE LESBIANA’S GUIDE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL by Sonora Reyes | Young Adult Fiction

Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she's gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way.

After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don't fall in love. Granted, she's never been great at any of those things, but that's a problem for Future Yami.

The thing is, it's hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. So cute. Either way, Yami isn't going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she'll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?

Told in a captivating voice that is by turns hilarious, vulnerable, and searingly honest, The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School explores the joys and heartaches of living your full truth out loud.

NERUDA ON THE PARK by Cleyvis Natera | Adult Fiction

The Guerreros have lived in Nothar Park, a predominantly Dominican part of New York City, for twenty years. When demolition begins on a neighboring tenement, Eusebia, an elder of the community, takes matters into her own hands by devising an increasingly dangerous series of schemes to stop construction of the luxury condos. Meanwhile, Eusebia’s daughter, Luz, a rising associate at a top Manhattan law firm who strives to live the bougie lifestyle her parents worked hard to give her, becomes distracted by a sweltering romance with the handsome white developer at the company her mother so vehemently opposes.
 
As Luz’s father, Vladimir, secretly designs their retirement home in the Dominican Republic, mother and daughter collide, ramping up tensions in Nothar Park, racing toward a near-fatal climax.
 
A beautifully layered portrait of family, friendship, and ambition, Neruda on the Park weaves a rich and vivid tapestry of community as well as the sacrifices we make to protect what we love most, announcing Cleyvis Natera as an electrifying new voice.

JOIN THE CLUB MAGGIE DIAZ by Nina Moreno | Middle Grade Fiction

Everyone in Maggie Diaz's life seems to be finding their true passion. The one thing that defines them as a person. Her best friends Zoey and Julian are too busy to hang out after school thanks to band and comics club. Mom is finishing her last semester in college. And Maggie's perfect older sister Caro is perfectly-perfect at sports and tutoring.

So Maggie cooks up a plan to join every club she can! But trying to fit in with type-A future leaders, gardening whizzes, and the fearless kids in woodshop is intimidating, exhausting, and seriously confusing. And juggling homework, friends, and all of her after-school activities is way harder than it looks.

Seventh grade is all about figuring out who you are -- good thing Maggie Diaz has the perfect plan!

On-Sale May 24th, 2022

THIS IS WHY THEY HATE US by Aaron Acedes | Young Adult Fiction

Inside a luxury housing complex, two misfit teenagers sneak around and get drunk. Franco Andrade, lonely, overweight, and addicted to porn, obsessively fantasizes about seducing his neighbor—an attractive married woman and mother—while Polo dreams about quitting his grueling job as a gardener within the gated community and fleeing his overbearing mother and their narco-controlled village. Each facing the impossibility of getting what he thinks he deserves, Franco and Polo hatch a mindless and macabre scheme.

Written in a chilling torrent of prose by one of our most thrilling new writers, Paradais explores the explosive fragility of Mexican society—with its racist, classist, hyperviolent tendencies—and how the myths, desires, and hardships of teenagers can tear life apart at the seams.

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda | Young Adult Fiction

Growing up in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, Maggie Gonzalez has always been a little messy, but she’s okay with that. After all, she has a great family, a goofy group of friends, a rocky romantic history, and dreams of being a music photographer. Tasked with picking an escort for her little sister’s quinceañera, Maggie has to face the truth: that her feelings about her friends—and her future—aren’t as simple as she’d once believed.

As Maggie’s search for the perfect escort continues, she’s forced to confront new (and old) feelings for three of her friends: Amanda, her best friend and first-ever crush; Matthew, her ex-boyfriend twice-over who refuses to stop flirting with her, and Dani, the new girl who has romantic baggage of her own. On top of this romantic disaster, she can’t stop thinking about the uncertainty of her own plans for the future and what that means for the people she loves.

As the weeks wind down and the boundaries between friendship and love become hazy, Maggie finds herself more and more confused with each photo. When her tried-and-true medium causes more chaos than calm, Maggie needs to figure out how to avoid certain disaster—or be brave enough to dive right into it, in Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster.

On-Sale May 31st, 2022

ISLANDS APART: BECOMING DOMINICAN AMERICAN by Jasminne Mendez | Young Adult Nonfiction

Jasminne Mendez didn’t speak English when she started kindergarten, and her young, white teacher thought the girl was deaf because in Louisiana, you were either black or white. She had no idea that a black girl could be a Spanish speaker.

In this memoir for teens about growing up Afro Latina in the Deep South, Jasminne writes about feeling torn between her Dominican, Spanish-speaking culture at home and the American, English-speaking one around her. She desperately wanted to fit in, to be seen as American, and she realized early on that language mattered. Learning to read and write English well was the road to acceptance.

Mendez shares typical childhood experiences such as having an imaginary friend, boys and puberty, but she also exposes the anti-black racism within her own family and the conflict created by her family’s conservative traditions. She was not allowed to do things other girls could, like date boys, shave her legs or wear heels. “I wanted us to find some common ground,” she writes about her parents, “but it seemed like we were from two different worlds, and our islands kept drifting farther and farther apart.”

Despite her father’s old-style approach to raising girls, he valued education and insisted his daughters do well in school and maintain their native language. He took his children to hear Maya Angelou speak, and hearing the poet read was a defining moment for the black Dominican girl who struggled to fit in. “I decided that if Maya Angelou could be the author of her own story and rewrite her destiny to become a phenomenal woman, then somehow, so could I.” Teens—and adults too—will appreciate reading about Mendez’s experiences coming of age in the United States as both black and Latina.

#SalaSundays with Kayah Hodge

Latinx in Pub (LxP): What do you do?

Kayah Hodge (KH): I am a Marketing Assistant for Tor Books (an imprint at Macmillan Publishers). I work with YA and middle-grade science fiction and fantasy titles.

LxP: How did you get started?

KH: I started interning at Scholastic (2019) during undergrad. The following summer (2020), I interned at Simon & Schuster where I received grants from WNDB and The Romance Writers of America. After graduation (2021), I participated in a tuition-free publishing course for BIPoC called Inkluded Academy (applications for this summer are now open). My final internship before my current role was with Publishers Weekly.

LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?

KH: I wish I truly understood how low the starting salaries are in comparison to other industries.

LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?

KH: I'm currently reading Heavy by Kiese Laymon; it's so good!!

Brooklyn native, Kayah Hodge is a recent alumna of Hamilton College. There, she specialized in Creative Writing, interned at the largest national publishers, and honed her voice as a literature lover. Outside of writing mixed genre material, Kayah enjoys spending time cooking and learning new recipes. Her favorite authors include Jacqueline Woodson, James Baldwin, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She particularly appreciates work that sheds light on immigrant experiences and the vastness of underrepresented cultures.

Review: RIMA'S REBELLION

Rima’s Rebellion by Margarita Engle is a book written in verse that covers the women’s suffrage movement in Cuba during the early 1900s. This movement also includes ending the Adultery Law, which allowed men to kill unfaithful wives and daughters, along with their lovers. This sexist law, however, did not apply to men. In fact, it was typical for men to have mistresses. This is extremely harmful to the children, often mixed-race, who were born from these relationships. These children were not able to share their father’s surnames, which eliminated their inheritances and ability to receive any financial or emotional support. These children, along with their mothers, were often ostracized by society and shamed for their existence. 

 We follow Rima Marin who is one of these children. Her father is a wealthy man who has another daughter of his own through his marriage, whom he spoils and promises a bright future, while Rima’s mother and abuela are part of a feminist group called Las Mamibas that ride horses together and fight for women’s rights. There are many political movements in the book, such as the Women’s Congress that practice what it would be like for women to vote and discuss matters such as the Adultery Law. During this time, the then President, Gerardo Machado, did not believe women should have the right to vote and strongly advocated for the Adultery Law. However, he still participates in performative activism like pretending to support women’s rights to secure his presidency. Thankfully, a feminist, Ofelia, refuses to be silenced on women’s rights as well as the Adultery Law and spearheads a campaign to fight for their justice.

Rima also helps her half-sister through her relationship with a man of whom her father disapproves due to his class. Engle highlights the difficulty Rima experiences in helping her sister as she has the life that Rima deserves. Her father financially and emotionally supports her while he disregards Rima. However, Rima knows that women need to stand together to achieve gender equality. 

I absolutely devoured this book. Although short in length, the verses are beautifully written and extremely powerful. I learned so much about Cuban history and Engle did a great job mentioning the involvement of the United States. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in women’s rights, especially in Cuba.

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Mariana Felix-Kim (she/her) lives in Washington, D.C. with her lovely cat, Leo. When she is not working in the environmental science field, Mariana is constantly reading. Her favorite genres include non-fiction, thrillers, and contemporary romances. Mariana is half Mexican and half Korean. You can find her on Instagram: @mariana.reads.books

#SalaSundays with Monica Rodriguez

Latinx in Pub (LxP): What do you do?

Monica Rodriguez (MR): I'm a Junior Agent at Context Literary Agency! I am also the Director of Brand Management where I help Context authors with their brand, offer advice, and support their books throughout their writing career.

LxP: How did you get started?

MR: My agenting journey started in the query trenches. As a querying writer, I realized how my marketing skills really helped my querying process. As I was querying, I started to get curious about what it would be like to be an agent. I also realized there weren't enough Latinx agents out there. I wanted to use my marketing skills and my writing experience to find a way to open doors for others and create more seats at the table. Following my curiosity, I applied for an internship with Context Literary where I met Tamar Rydzinski, we later discussed a marketing position. I've been at Context for over six months now and I'm so glad I followed my curiosity. Along with my brand management role, I get to work with some of the kindest agents out there. The Context team has been super supportive and provides mentorship in a collaborative environment. I had a moment where I was listening to a writer talk about a poetry collection and visualized a potential career path for them and thought, wait a minute, is this it? Am I agenting? That's when I knew I was ready to open for queries and start my journey as an agent. I recently signed my first client, Jassyel Gomez who is a former LatinxInPublishing mentee! I'm super excited to help share her stories with the world.

LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?

MR: I think as writers we often forget how many plates agents have to spin and that most agents still need a day job to survive financially. Being on the other side of things helped me understand timing and what goes into deciding what projects to represent. While there are so many wonderful stories out there that I may fall in love with, there's also an element of how I can make this book great and if I can sell it. Oftentimes, as writers we idolize the idea of getting an agent and forget that it is a business partnership as well. The reason why it takes so long for agents to get back to writers right away is because clients come first and it takes time to read, to make sure the project will be the right partnership. That being said, I wish I knew how much went into agenting before I started querying because now a rejection isn't something I worry about and I understand if it takes long, it actually might be a good thing. It's all about patience, right timing and working on your craft in the meantime.

LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?

MR: I'm reading a couple of full manuscripts I've requested. Leisurely, I just finished reading Parable of The Sower by Octavia E. Butler and I'm about to start reading Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li, which I'm really looking forward to.

Monica Rodriguez is the Director of Brand Management at Context Literary Agency. She helps authors connect with partnerships that enhance their writing careers, supporting their books before and after they’ve hit the shelves. Her love for books can be traced back to elementary school, where the best days were spent attending book fairs and author readings. In addition to her brand management role, Monica is also a Junior Agent with a mission to help uplift underrepresented voices in publishing, specifically within the Latinx community. In children’s literature, she is actively looking for PB, MG, YA & Graphic Novels. She is also open to adult and non-fiction submissions. Check out her MSWL page for more.

LxP Writers Mentorship Showcase: Giselle Abreu

The Latinx in Publishing Writers Mentorship Showcase series features excerpts by our Class of 2021 mentees from the projects they’ve developed with the guidance of their mentors.

The LxP Writers Mentorship Program is an annual volunteer-based initiative that offers the opportunity for unpublished and/or unagented writers who identify as Latinx (mentees) to strengthen their craft, gain first-hand industry knowledge, and expand their professional connections through work with experienced published authors (mentors).

Below is an excerpt from one of our 2021 mentees, Giselle Abreu:

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Chapter One

Mira goes MIA

I always thought hair should lose its volume thirty-thousand feet in the air. Something to do with pressure or whatever, I don’t know. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” says a crackling voice from over the intercom. “We are now reaching our cruising altitude.”

Turns out I was wrong, because now I’m forty-thousand feet in the air (according to the announcement of our mumbling pilot) and not a single hair on my mop of a head is flatter. If anything, the curls have gained volume. But that’s probably from my sweat and not from the altitude. Knowing this is my first time on a plane taking me on my first trip to the Dominican Republic hasn’t helped the newly pubescent sweat glands. Oh, the joys of twelve-year-old life. 

Hanging upside down probably doesn’t help either. After I’d finished my free orange juice (thank you, flight attendant), and taken approximately 5,000 photos of clouds with my new polaroid (thank you, Mom), I realized nobody had probably ever taken photos of a plane’s interior ceiling. So, like a ninja, I flipped upside down while no one was watching, placing my head where my butt should be and feet where my head should be, all without kicking my sister more than a couple of times. 

Laila, my twenty-one-year-old sister/escort/butt-face, now gives me a glare, which upside down looks like a smile. The expression “turn that frown upside down” really does work then. 

“Mira,” she hisses my name. “¿Estas loca?” She raises her hand to smack me, but with my head (a common space for smacking) on the seat, she hesitates, then settles for my thigh. My thigh, a surprisingly thick place for the body of a twelve-year-old, absorbs the hit like a giant gummy bear. 

“Like that’s supposed to hurt,” I say with a roll of my eyes, even though she can’t see them.

“Muévete antes que alguien te vea,” she says through gritted teeth, eyes darting around the inside of the plane. Her Spanish, fast and mumbled, reaches my ears at the pace of molasses (which, after hearing that expression for years actually made sense when I mixed molasses into jalao, a Dominican dessert cooked for Laila’s visit. That stuff is thicker than my thighs). But when it finally does reach me, I roll my eyes again. We’re the only people in our row, the aisle seat empty beside us, so why is she worried about who sees me?

There is another person on the row behind us who might be wondering why there are flip-flops in their face, but I solve that problem by folding my legs into a crisscross applesauce pose against the seat. “Happy?” I ask, gesturing to my legs. 

“No entiendo esa mujer que te está criando.” I assume her bad mouth comment is referring to our mother, who Laila only greeted with half-hearted hellos and side cheek kisses on her short half day trip to pick me up. Mom, raised on the idea that southern hospitality is something earned, is as sweet as the jalao she took two hours making for Laila. That is to say, pretty dang sweet. Morning snuggles, ear to ear smiles during school pick-ups, and high-pitched belly laughs accompany her wherever she goes. You would think after four years Laila would at least give her a hug. 

But then again, will I give Papi a hug?

I was eight years old when Papi decided to pack up his life in our South Charlotte home in North Carolina and move back to the Dominican Republic. I guess that’s what he did when he left the DR in the first place, but it still doesn’t make it fair. Laila, a whopping nine years older than me, was seventeen the summer he left. She was turning eighteen that September, and so Mom didn’t put up a fight when Laila declared she’d be leaving with him. 

And yeah, alright, I sort of get why Papi left. Coming to a country where you don’t speak the language, hopping from job to job for eighteen years, only visiting your family over video chat, that must suck. But Laila? What reason did she have to leave? 

“Mira, Mira,” she says, using a phrase Papi often used. Mira, the Spanish word for look, is pretty ironic when you get to know me. I’m never looking in the right place, so I’m constantly asked to look somewhere different, hence mira, Mira. “Déjate la locura,” Laila continues to lecture me, but I raise my hand, a signal for her to stop. 

“Just tell me whatever you want in English, you still speak that right?” 

Ok, it’s not that I don’t speak Spanish. I do. Really. Cross my heart and all that stuff. If you asked me to say something to you in Spanish (which a lot of people do), I could probably sound pretty convincing. Which I am because I speak Spanish. Remember? But not Papi’s Spanish. That left with him. 

My Spanish, hanging by a thread made of Univision soap operas, has suffered to say the least. Papi was the only one who spoke it to me. Though my mom, whose Spanish isn’t half bad, occasionally attempted to revive the tradition, it always felt weird. Spanish was me and Papi’s thing, not me and Mom’s. She’d only recently learned it after doing volunteer work for the Peace Corps or something like that. She met Papi right before she was set to leave. Mom probably didn’t expect to be speaking it the rest of her life, even if her only two daughters shared a Dominican dad. 

In the pause that follows I imagine Laila rolling her eyes, because, you know, hanging upside down and all it’s kind of hard to tell. “Abuela only speaks Spanish, remember? You’re going to have to speak it with her.” 

Right, Abuela. The reason I’m here in the first place.

It’s not like I never wondered what it was like in the DR. I always imagined the town where Papi grew up was some tropical fairy tale. A place where bachata played on the streets 24/7, like it used to at our house on Saturday mornings. Somewhere you could walk to the beach and spend all day on the sand just because you felt like it. At least, that’s how Papi described it. But it’s not like going there was ever in the cards. Flights and passports are expensive. According to Mom it was enough trouble getting Papi out here in the first place. So, for me, Papi’s home would always be a place in the story books. 

That is, until I discovered Papi’s town had a name. I mean, yeah, it probably always did, but it was the first I’d ever heard of it. 

Mom kept a bunch of stuff in the closet under the stairs, including a treasure trove of disposable cameras from the nineteenth century she’d never developed. Just having discovered my love of photography, I begged Mom to develop them with me, which she agreed to, if I could find a place that still did that kind of thing. Much to her chagrin, Walmart did, in this the year of our lord, 2015.

The first picture sitting in the white envelope was of my parents, both on a motorcycle. I recognized my mom, even if a little younger, from her familiar warm smile, her easily sunburned skin, and loose brown hair. Papi held the handlebars at the front, and only his eyes were visible as he wore a helmet, but they were just as bright as my mother’s, pulled into a smile. What a difference a few years could make. 

They sat in front of a big sign with white letters that read, AZUA. 

What was Azua?

When I asked my mom, she took the photo and a smile curled at the corners of her mouth. “Oh, I remember this day. We were visiting your father’s family, in his hometown, Azua.”

The way she pronounced it, with the z more like a swift s, unlocked something in me. 

Azua was where my dad grew up. 

And I wanted to see it.

At first it was only supposed to be a week, but when Abuela (a woman I’d only ever spoken to on the phone) found out it turned into a month. With some more prodding it became the whole summer. 

Mom kept telling me I didn’t have to go if I didn’t want to, that Abuela would get over it if I didn’t stay the whole time, and I’ll admit, the offer was tempting.  Everything was familiar about Mom’s waffles on Saturday mornings, fourth of July barbecue in Uncle Scott and Aunt Lizzie’s backyard, and every conversation together being an English one. 

But all of it was in North Carolina, where people sometimes thought I was adopted because my brown skin didn’t match my mom’s. A place where my very existence was a mystery.

So, I had to go. Have to go. Even if the only way to get there is on a boring airplane.

“My Spanish will do,” is all I tell Laila, crossing my arms. But she either doesn’t see my sass or acknowledge it, because she turns her head back to the phone in her lap. She’s supposed to be on airplane mode. 

Two can play at this game. I ignore the blood rushing to my head and reach for a pamphlet in the netted pocket on the seat in front of me, perfectly content to read upside down and disregard Laila’s existence.

I picked out a Dominican brochure, apparently. I flip through pages of advertisements about resort rates and timeshares, but admire the beach pictures, taking note of the photographers names in the tiniest of font sizes. Imagine having thousands—no, millions of people looking at your pictures immortalized on a magazine page, guiding their decision about whether or not to visit a place. That’s the power of a good picture. 

But eventually the blue skies and oceans are interrupted by a page about history. Dominican history to be exact. The title says, “Una Vista Al Pasado: El Museo Del Hombre Dominicano,” which takes me approximately three more seconds to understand as “A Look into the Past: The Museum of the Dominican Man”. See, I speak Spanish, remember? 

The spread advertises a museum in Santo Domingo about people who lived on the island a bajillion years ago, people called the Taino. I skim through boring entries about Columbus and his girly-named boats, but linger on words I don’t understand. 

Opia. Zemi. Boriken. 

Apparently, all are from the Taino language. Some are explained. Zemis were the gods they worshipped. Opia were what the Taino called spirits of the dead, and traveled the island by day in the form of bats. Imagine dying and waking up to find you have to live out the rest of your existence as a bat? Gross.

There are a few words I surprisingly recognize. Piragua. Juracan. 

Papi used to shout “PIRAGUA!” at the top of his lungs when he heard the ice cream truck meandering down the street. And Juracan…well that was just huracán with a J. Or in English…

Hurricane. 

Suddenly, the plane jolts. My head slides off the seat, hitting the floor, and my legs follow suit, crumpling in over myself. I don’t know where the magazine goes, but it goes flying.

Laila hisses at me, “¡Levántate!” and this time I don’t throw her any sass. I sit up to find the sky dark outside my window, and fat clumps of rain speeding past the glass. We’re not going to crash, I tell myself. Planes fly in storms all the time. But I still grip the armrests until my knuckles are white.

I crane my neck to see the flight attendant who’s surprisingly calm, still passing out orange juice. Who needs orange juice at a time like this, lady?!

But then I look to Laila, scrolling through her phone again, and then the other passengers, right as rain. Or bored as…mud? Either way, nobody is freaking out. 

I try to relax in my seat. We’re not going to crash. Planes fly in storms. We’re not going to crash. Planes fly in storms. 

A streak of lightning illuminates the cabin, followed by a loud BOOM of thunder. We bounce forcefully. The flight attendant’s orange juice splashes on the floor. She frantically pulls her cart back to the front. Not good.

“Passengers,” another voice says over the intercom. “For your safety please remain seated with your seatbelts securely fastened.”

I fumble for my strap, but before I can clamp it down we hit another harsh bump and my head nearly slams the air vents. Laila clicks the belt in place for me, muttering under her breath Spanish words that are too quiet for me to hear. 

“We’re not going to crash,” I say aloud. “Planes fly in storms. We’re not going to crash. Planes fly in storms.”

“Shut up!” Laila shouts at me, but her voice is muffled by another crash of thunder. 

Suddenly, the plane makes a violent jerk. All of the passengers’ heads whip to the side. The lights go out. And then my stomach drops. We must be falling. Someone is screaming. Maybe it’s me. I don’t know, because either way we’re going to crash! This plane does not fly in storms and we’re going to crash!

We’re going to crash! We’re going to crash! WE’RE GOING TO CRASH!!!

Click.

The lights turn back on. The screaming stops. The plane settles. Are we still going to crash?

“Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the electrical difficulties,” the intercom says again. “Please stay seated as we continue our flight.”

I let out a breath and slump into my seat. No, we’re not going to crash. I squint out my window to see the clouds lightening from gray to white, but find something else instead. 

Outside, amidst the rain and wind, not three feet from me, someone is standing on the wing of the plane.

I don’t have time to even gasp before they swing their head in my direction, as if sensing I’ve caught them. I don’t find the eyes of some creepy monster though, I find nothing. Nothing at all. BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE A FACE. 

No eyes, no mouth, no nose, nothing but flat gray skin. I must be seeing things. I rub my eyes but the faceless man doesn’t go away.

I turn to my sister. “Laila—do you see that?!”

“What?”

“There on the wing, something’s out there!”

I point to the window but she doesn’t turn her head. “Mira, shut up…”

“Just look there’s a—”

But when I look again, it’s gone. The person without a face is gone. 

“¡Conchale, Mira!” Laila says with a grunt of pain. I realize I’m gripping her arm, and my nails are digging into flesh under her sleeve.

I let go, saying, “But there was a man. On the wing of the plane. He didn’t have—”

“Have what?” Laila barks. 

The whole thing happened in a matter of five seconds, tops. Already the rain has turned to a drizzle and the sun is parting from the clouds. 

“Never mind,” I say quietly. 

“Thank you for your patience,” the flight attendant says. “We will begin our descent shortly.”

She continues on about temperatures and time zones, but I’m too stunned to listen. I swear I saw someone. But who?

Used with permission from the author, copyright (c) Giselle Abreu, 2021.

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As a mixed Dominican American, Giselle Abreu loves stories about kids with multicultural backgrounds. Her work in progress follows a girl discovering her Dominican heritage through magical adventures inspired by Taino mythology. Giselle also holds a Bachelor in English Literature and has interned at Writers House under literary agents Victoria Doherty-Munro and Dan Lazar. She currently works at her local library, where she sometimes dresses up as a mermaid.

#SalaSundays with Cloud Delfina Cardona

Meet Cloud Delfina Cardona, one of our Emerging Writers and Publishing Fellows, who hosted #SalaSundays on our Instagram April 3rd!

Latinx in Pub (LxP): What do you do?

Cloud Delfina Cardona (CC): I am a high school English teacher. I am also an editor for Infrarrealista Review and a poet.

LxP: How did you get started?

CC: I started my editorial journal through zine making. In 2013, I co-founded Chifladazine with Laura Valdez, which was a zine focused on the voices of Latinas. We published artwork, poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. I fell in love with editing and self publishing through Chifladazine.

LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?

CC: Although I don't have official experience in the editorial world, I do wish I knew how much unpaid labor there goes into the literary world. It is definitely a thankless job, but I feel very privileged to read and publish others' work.

LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?

CC: I am currently editing Amapolasong, a chapbook by Jacinto Jesus Cardona. It is a chapbook by my father that Plancha Press is publishing this summer. It has been such a fulfilling and special experience for me. For leisure, I am reading the collected poems of Sonia Sanchez and White Girls by Hilton Als.

Cloud Delfina Cardona (she/they) is a poet born and raised in San Anto, Texas. She is the author of What Remains, winner of the 2020 Host Publications Chapbook Award. She is the co-founder of Infrarrealista Review, a literary journal for Texan writers. She currently teaches high school English on the south side of San Antonio.