Beln Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. Shes at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnantby the boyfriend she hasnt told her parents about, because hes Black, and her parents are racist.

Things are hella complicated.

Weighed by a depression she cant seem to shake, Beln helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Beln? What future is there for girls like her?

From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.

ISBN: 9780063287860
ISBN 10: 0063287862
Imprint: Quill Tree Books
On Sale: January 9, 2024
Trimsize: 6x8in
Pages: 368 pages
Price: $19.99
Age: from 14