Ander and Santi Were Here: A Novel

(Hardback)

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Description

The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, TX is all Ander Martnez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce, the laughter of kids hitting a piata at the park, the mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially, their job at the family's taqueria. So as the days count down on their gap year until the day they'll leave for art school in Chicago, their head is filled with one relentless question: am I really ready to leave it all behind Their family, however, has the opposite worry: to keep them from becoming complacent, they "fire" Ander so they can focus on their murals and prepare for college. That is, until they meet Santiago Lpez Alvarado, the hot new waiter. Ander is immediately crushing and slides back into a few shifts, desperate to spend more time with him. A couple nights closing down the restaurant together; late night drives to drop Santi off after work; falling for each other is as natural as breathing. Through Santi's eyes, Ander finally understands everything they are and want to be as an artist, and Ander becomes Santi's first step toward making Santos Vista and the U.S. feel like home. But they start to realize how fragile that sense of home is when vans are spotted following Santi on his walks to work. When ICE agents are waiting for them at Ander's house. When they begin to feel like the entire world is against them. And when, eventually, the outside world starts to win.

Reviews

"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 Belpr 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

Author Bio

JONNY GARZA VILLA (they/them) is an author of contemporary young adult literature with characters and settings inspired by their own Tejane, Chicane, and queer identities. Their debut YA novel Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun was a Pura Belpr Honor Book and a Kirkus Best YA Fiction of 2021 selection. When not writing, Jonny enjoys reading, playing Dungeon and Dragons, visiting taqueras, listening to Selena, and caring for their many cacti children. They live in San Antonio.