16-year-old Yamilet “Yami” Flores is all gay panic mixed with Catholic guilt, wrapped up in a not-so-neat Indigenous Mexican package.
Title: The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School
Author: Sonora Reyes
Narrator: Karla Serrato
ISBN: 9780063060258
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication date: 2022
Genre(s): Realistic fiction, contemporary
Available format(s): Print, audio. I reviewed the audio version.
Awards, honors, notable mentions:
2023 Morris Award Winner, Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Honor Book, National Book Award Finalist, and Lambda Literary Award Winner for LGBTQ+ Young Adults
Reading level/interest level: Age 13 and up, according to the publisher
Plot summary: Yamilet Flores already sticks out like a sore thumb at her new Catholic school, which is preppy, wealthy, and white (Yami is decidedly none of those things). While she can’t hide the fact that she’s Mexican, she can easily hide being gay… or so she thinks. Her crush on Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, complicates this mission. Does Bo really have to be so hot?
Still, Yami’s got to keep it together and keep everyone – especially Mamí — from discovering her secret, all while trying to keep an eye on her brother César, navigating her relationship with her dad, earning a little extra cash, and just trying to make it through high school.
About the creator: Sonora Reyes (they/them) was born and raised in Arizona, and The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School was their debut. They are currently working on other projects for both youth and adults featuring queer Latinx characters; their sophomore novel, The Luis Ortega Survival Club, was published earlier this year. They have also co-founded a virtual book festival celebrating queer and trans authors of color (Reyes, n.d.).
Critical review: Despite the book’s gorgeous cover artwork, numerous awards, and abundant praise from others, it fell short of my high expectations (and I’m not normally one to place high expectations on debuts, but this one was so lauded)! I loved feisty Yamilet; she was brilliantly voiced. Serrato also deftly adjusts her voice to portray Yami’s mom and brother. But even the skilled narration did not distract me from the odd pacing of the plot. The writing felt unfinished and the story progressed at an odd pace, the second half of the book especially so. I firmly believe that suicidal ideation, homophobia, and religious trauma are very real horrors and issues experienced in the Mexican-American community – but in the book, the events that brought these issues to light occurred one after the other with little break in between, as if they were crammed into the end. The successive dramatic turns did not allow for the reader to pause to take in the gravity of each event.
Related programming ideas: Yami helps promote her mother’s small business by displaying her handmade jewelry on social media. This book and others about running and advertising a small business (e.g., The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar) could accompany an entrepreneurial workshop for teens.
Brief booktalk: 16-year-old Yamilet “Yami” Flores is all gay panic mixed with Catholic guilt, wrapped up in a not-so-neat Indigenous Mexican package. When she and her brother transfer to a new school, they try to stay out of trouble, because things didn’t go so well for either of them at the old one. But then Yami finds herself falling for gorgeous queer girl Bo, realizing she didn’t know as much about her sibling as she thought she did, and keeping secrets from her parents, and her careful balancing act is threatened. This is a story about being honest with yourself and the world when it really matters.
Potential challenges: Much like the graphic novel Flamer, this book could be challenged for broaching topics like closeted sexuality and religious trauma.
Reason for inclusion: Though I didn’t personally enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to, I do not doubt that Yami and her brother, César, are mirrors for real queer Latinx youth. I included it in the collection because I do love what the book represents for this population.
References:
Reyes, S. (n.d.). About Sonora Reyes. https://www.sonorareyes.com/about
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