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Uprooted from her comfortable life in Bogotá, Colombia, into an ant-infested Miami townhouse, fifteen-year-old Francisca is miserable and friendless in her strange new city. Her alienation grows when her mother is swept up into an evangelical church, replete with Christian salsa, abstinent young dancers, and baptisms for the dead.
But there, Francisca also meets the magnetic Carmen: opinionated and charismatic, head of the youth group, and the pastor’s daughter. As her mother’s mental health deteriorates and her grandmother descends into alcoholism, Francisca falls more and more intensely in love with Carmen. To get closer to her, Francisca turns to Jesus to be saved, even as their relationship hurtles toward a shattering conclusion.
Author: Juliana Delgado Lopera
Paperback Published 1 April 2020 240 pages
"A rich, deeply felt novel about family ties, immigration, sexual longing, faith, and desire. Simultaneously raw and luminous." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Moving and hilarious. . . . This feisty coming-of-age tale introduces a funny, fresh, and indelible new voice." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
¡Ay Dios mío! This book’s got tumbao. With energetic prose and a sharp sense of humor, Juliana Delgado Lopera brings us a queer coming-of-age tale that explores diasporic identity from Bogotá to Miami, and the complicated ways that religious fervor impacts same-sex desire and one’s relationship to community. Lopera’s eye for detail is fierce and this book is easy to devour.” —Joseph Cassara, author of The House of Impossible Beauties: A Novel