Don’t Bite Your Tongue
Yolanda Alvarez’s visions are finally starting. She’s been eagerly expecting them as they mark the beginning of her initiation into her family’s bruja spiritual tradition. Yo is an exceptional young woman and a force to be reckoned with at Julia De Burgos High School in the Bronx. She is a good student, popular with her peers and faculty at school, a fierce and well-informed proponent of social justice, and leader of the Brave Space Club. She is deaf, but cochlear implants help her to hear, and in her home life, she is a loving and devoted daughter and granddaughter. What many would call a pillar of her community. Her opinions and ideas carry weight and are respected by those around her.
Yet, as her visions intensify and she sees unmistakable proof that a problematic new student is planning to bring violence to the school, her confidence in the strength and respectability of her voice begins to waver. She can’t go to the administration and accuse someone of plotting a heinous crime with prophetic visions as her only proof, can she? To further complicate matters, the subject of her visions is one of the few white students in school and also happens to be the son of a wealthy politician. What can she do to prevent this horrible fate from befalling the community she loves and so fiercely wants to protect?
Yolanda’s journey to answers and action is engaging, suspenseful, thought-provoking, distressing, and hopeful. Lorraine Avila has created an astonishing tour de force centered around racism and the epidemic of gun violence in schools, but ultimately about much, much more. These pages are populated with a large and memorable cast of impeccably realized characters who all have integral parts to play. This is a novel that will have people talking—about how amazing it is as a literary achievement, and about the many big ideas and amazing personalities at play here. You can’t help but finish the story and want to talk about it with someone. This is something truly special. Take note.
One of the Best Books of the Year
Available wherever books are sold.
The Making of Yolanda la Bruja I 9781646142439 I $19.99 I Hardcover I On Sale: 4/11