Camila Nez's Year of Disasters

(Hardback)

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Description

Cuban American Camila Nez has always been afraid of the future. She's been working hard to keep her anxieties in check, but with so many new experiences-her first queer love, trouble with her dog walking job, her mother's judgments about her body, learning to drive, her father being too busy with work-there's just so much to worry about. So when Camila's best friend gives her a tarot card reading for her sixteenth birthday, she believes it when the cards predict terrible things to come. As the year unfolds, the cards seem to be spot-on-is her papi having an affair Will her best friend's love life ruin their friendship Are all her relationships doomed to fail Whether she's ready or not, Camila will have to reckon with all the ways her fear about the future is ruining her life and learn to find peace amidst it all.

Reviews

"The thoughtful exploration of mental health, self-preservation, and developing interpersonal skills shows Camila's anxiety while making clear her inner resilience. [...] Compelling, relatable, and skillfully crafted."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Prez utilizes compassionate and empathetic prose to explore sexuality, the Cuban diaspora, anxiety, and self-esteem as Camila grows and matures over the course of a year in this introspective debut."
--Publishers Weekly

"This layered, emotionally charged debut tackles mental health, family relationships, and queer and Cuban American identity. Camila will capture your heart from page one, and her anxieties about the future are portrayed with empathy and compassion. "
--Booklist

"With its valuable depiction of relationships and anxiety, this is a good purchase for collections seeking more contemporary LGBTQIA+ books."
--SLJ

"Prez's writing invites continued reading, and they deftly weave in the warmth and complexities of Cuban-American culture, living in diaspora, and queer acceptance. There's a lot that readers will find both enjoyable and valuable [...]"
--BCCB

"A tender-hearted book about anxiety, family, and first loves. Highly recommended for everyone whose minds and hearts tend to race."
--Zan Romanoff, author of Grace and the Fever and Look

"Effortlessly charming and full of heart. A must-read for anyone whose fear of the future has ever held them back in the present!"
--Aislinn Brophy, author of How to Succeed in Witchcraft

"A poignant journey every reader needs to go on."
--Scott Reintgen, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Dragon on Mars

Author Bio

Miriam Zoila Prez is a queer Cuban American writer. Their non-fiction writing has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, and anthologies like Roxane Gay's NYT bestseller Not That Bad. They were named a Lambda Literary Emerging LGBT Voice in Non-Fiction, and their TED talk about racism and maternal health has been viewed over a million times. This is their first novel. They live in Washington, DC, with Chuchi, who truly is the doggiest of dogs.