Avi Roque gives a spirited, deeply emotional performance of this queer love story set in San Antonio. Nonbinary Mexican American teen Ander is taking a gap year before college, working at their family's taqueria and focusing on their art. When they fall in love with the taqueria's newest employee, an undocumented Mexican boy named Santi, it opens up their world in unexpected ways. Roque's warm and musical narration is utter perfection. They capture Ander and Santi's fear with vivid immediacy and also infuse their voices with bubbly happiness. In moments of tenderness, their breath catches. They switch easily between Spanish and English and use a half-dozen unique accents for different characters. This audiobook is a heartbreaking, joyful love letter to queer Latinx communities. L.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

02/13/2023

U.S. immigration policies complicate a relationship between two queer San Antonio, Tex., teens in this fervent drama by Garza Villa (Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun). When not working at their tita’s taqueria, called Lupe’s, 19-year-old nonbinary Mexican American artist Ander Martínez spends their time painting murals throughout the neighborhood. After they spot new hire Santiago taking a selfie with one of Ander’s creations, they’re immediately drawn to him. Despite Ander’s mother’s protestations against the teens getting involved, Ander and Santi pursue a blissful romantic relationship, one that allows Ander to open up about conflicting feelings surrounding their art and future goals. Following a harrowing run-in with ICE agents, Ander worries about what Santi’s undocumented status could mean for their relationship. As Ander and Santi try to figure out what comes next for them, a devastating incident threatens to separate them for good. Through the teens’ tender courtship and Ander’s identity exploration, as depicted through descriptions of their unapologetically queer and Mexican art, Garza Villa provides a critical examination of government surveillance and its effect on immigrant residents in this blistering tale of enduring love and communal care. Ages 14–up. Agent: Claire Draper, Bent Agency. (May)

"An intimate meditation on romance, stepping into adulthood, home, protecting those you hold dear and more." - The New York Times, "Newly Published"

"In Santi, Garza Villa has done a superb job of verisimilitude, taking their readers into the precarious life and circumstances of an undocumented teen. The love between the two teens is beautifully realized without a false note, proving that Garza Villa is as much an artist as Ander." - Booklist, Starred Review

"[A] blistering tale of enduring love and communal care." - Publishers Weekly

"Explores love and growing up viewed through artistic lenses.... A relevant coming-of-age journey." - Kirkus

"This book is a living, breathing love letter, and I felt every beat of it. Jonny Garza Villa’s fiercely vulnerable writing leaves a permanent mark." – Becky Albertalli, award-winning author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“Beautifully heartbreaking. This book will fill you with warmth while breaking you to pieces, and the tears you shed will be completely worth it.” - Dustin Thao, New York Times bestselling author of You've Reached Sam

"With a swoony romance full of sex positivity, humor, and PAIN, Jonny Garza Villa will destroy your heart and piece it back together and you will thank them for it." – Sonora Reyes, author of The Lesbiana's Guide To Catholic School

“A beautiful ode to holding on—to our precious family histories, to home wherever we choose to make it, and most importantly, to love.” – Laekan Zea Kemp, author of Pura Belpré Honor book Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet

"Jonny has done it again. Ander & Santi Were Here is at times hilariously debauched and painfully poignant, both a warm testament to community and love as well as a fiery call to action. I'll read anything they write, and you should too." -Aaron H. Aceves, author of This Is Why They Hate Us

"Ander & Santi Were Here is a uniquely soft heartbeat—devastating in its truth and profound in its beauty. JGV offers their readers another brilliant story, one that arrives ready to expose the truth of living and loving undocumented in America. At its core, ANDER AND SANTI is both a love story and a loud message made up of undeniably romantic moments, great banter, clutch-your-pillow flirting, and raw exposure to obstacles the Latine community meets head-on every day. Ander, Santi and Jonny Garza Villa have given readers a kind of poetry within this story that is meant to move you." – Cam Montgomery, author of By Any Means Necessary

"A romance that knows no borders, Ander & Santi Were Here is a rich, relatable, Latine story not soon to be forgotten." – e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, ALA winning author of the Fat Angie series

"Perhaps one of the most daring romances of the year, Ander & Santi Were Here incorporates subtle elements of racism, homophobia, and politics into a tender love story between a nonbinary Mexican American teenager and the new waiter at their family’s restaurant. Both poignant and vulnerable, this romance asks readers what does home really mean? Is it a place, person, or both?" - Cosmopolitan, Your TBR List Isn't Complete Without These 9 New Queer Books Debuting in 2023

10/20/2023

Gr 10 Up—An emotional romance about claiming the life and love you want. Ander Martínez, a nonbinary 19-year-old living in San Antonio, TX, has taken a gap year between high school and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to create stunning murals celebrating their neighborhood. They plan to spend the year defining their artistic style while working at their family's taqueria, but things change when they fall hard for new waiter Santiago López Alvarado. What Ander doesn't know is that Santi is undocumented, and lives with the threat of ICE agents tearing him away from the life he's built for himself in Texas. Ander and Santi's budding relationship is a whirlwind of ecstatic highs and tragic lows that carries with it the intensity and fierceness of a new love. The novel skillfully captures the nuance of Ander's struggle to define themself as an artist while facing the racist stereotypes of their future college adviser. VERDICT A hopeful queer love story that is grounded by the complexities of the protagonists' struggle to stay together. Recommended for purchase.—Emily Yates

2023-01-12
Explores love and growing up viewed through artistic lenses.

Ander is a nonbinary Mexican teen who’s currently working at his family’s restaurant on the Westside of San Antonio. They’ve decided to take the year before entering the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to dedicate themself to their art, including pursuing a youth residency through Beautify Not Gentrify, a local organization. What’s not so great is that their parents consider it more of a year off without purpose. Tired of feeling like they have to prove themself to their parents and dominant society through the authenticity and validity of their artistic expression, Ander often seeks comfort in their best friends, a tightknit group of queer teens who are often the highlights of the scenes in which they appear. From the beginning, Ander is aware of the huge impact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its politics have had in their community, but so far, it has never hit very close to home. This changes when they become involved with Santiago, an undocumented teen from Mexico. Suddenly even their sense of self becomes shaken as they start to reconsider everything around them. Although the young couple’s relationship is loving, the pace initially moves very slowly, making it difficult to sustain readers’ interest. However, the close friendships help bind the narrative together.

A relevant coming-of-age journey for patient readers. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14-18)