Status
Call number
Genres
Publication
Description
Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.) HTML: "[Avi] 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."- AudioFile Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe meets The Sun is Also a Star in this YA contemporary love story from Jonny Garza Villa, Ander & Santi Were Here, about a nonbinary Mexican American teen falling for the shy new waiter at their family's taqueria. Finding home. Falling in love. Fighting to belong. The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Martínez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce. The mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially their job at their family's taquería. It's the place that has inspired Ander as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it's all of these things that give them hesitancy. That give them the thought, are they ready to leave it all behind? To keep Ander from becoming complacent during their gap year, their family "fires" them so they can transition from restaurant life to focusing on their murals and prepare for college. That is, until they meet Santiago López Alvarado, the hot new waiter. Falling for each other becomes as natural as breathing. Through Santi's eyes, Ander starts to understand who they are and want to be as an artist, and Ander becomes Santi's first steps toward making Santos Vista and the United States feel like home. Until ICE agents come for Santi, and Ander realizes how fragile that sense of home is. How love can only hold on so long when the whole world is against them. And when, eventually, the world starts to win. A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.… (more)
User reviews
This is a YA gay romance featuring two very likeable young men facing serious life decisions. Ander is an artist and planning to go to college to further his studies in art. He has a chance at a prestigious scholarship, but feels he should take a gap year
Oh, the intensity of young love. The passion and fierceness of the feelings. I really liked these two young men. Ander is very “out there” … he’s expressive and expansive in his art and in his feelings. He never holds back. Santi is more reserved, partly because of his natural personality, but also partly because he HAS to live under the radar to avoid being deported.
These two face some very tough decisions. Should Ander give up his dream college program because Santi cannot travel with him? Should Santi go back to Mexico to deal with a tragedy in his own family? Can the love they feel for one another survive such a separation? What choices do they have?
They are lucky in that Ander’s family is incredibly supportive of them both. While they are understandably upset that Ander would even consider abandoning his college dreams for Santi, they love him and respect his decisions. And when ICE arrives, they support and fight for Santi equally.
I do have a complaint, however. I’ve seen comparisons to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and the feelings and tenderness of first love certainly hold up to that comparison, but to ME, the language here (significant use of the ‘F’ bomb) and the sexual content seem more adult than YA. It’s a beautifully told love story, but Villa could have done it with much less swearing and graphic sex.