by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Clarion Books
10/23/2018, paperback
SKU: 9781328498021
A story set on the American border with Mexico, about family and friendship, life and death, and one teen struggling to understand what his adoption does and doesn't mean about who he is
Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it's senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and realizing he no longer knows himself. If Sal's not who he thought he was, who is he?
This humor-infused, warmly humane look at universal questions of belonging is a triumph.
Target age: 14-17
Reviews:
"What the world needs now is a book like this one. Profoundly important and moving. Read it."--Bill Konigsberg, Stonewall Award-winning author of Openly Straight and The Porcupine of Truth
"As Sal tries to understand the way his fists seem to be acting on their own, as he sorts through memories and feelings about mothers in general and his mother in particular, Sal wraps readers in a 464-page hug, sharing longing and insight that ultimately affirms the goodness of strong families with the generosity to draw in and rescue those in need of steady, solid, unconditional love." -- Bulletin
"[A] mesmerizing, poetic exploration of family, friendship, love and loss. In Sal, Sáenz gives his readers a young man equal parts strong, vulnerable, wise and loving." -- New York Times Book Review
About the Author:
Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an acclaimed writer for adults and teens. His novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe won a Printz Honor and the Pura Belpré, Lambda, and Stonewall Book Awards. Mr. Sáenz lives in El Paso, Texas.