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4.0 

Ander & Santi Were Here

By Jonny Garza Villa
Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A STONEWALL YOUNG ADULT HONOR BOOK

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
meets The Sun is Also a Star in this YA contemporary love story from Jonny Garza Villa, Ander & Santi Were Here, about a nonbinary Mexican American teen falling for the shy new waiter at their family’s taqueria.


Finding home. Falling in love. Fighting to belong.

The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Martínez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce. The mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially their job at their family's taquería. It's the place that has inspired Ander as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it's all of these things that give them hesitancy. That give them the thought, are they ready to leave it all behind?

To keep Ander from becoming complacent during their gap year, their family "fires" them so they can transition from restaurant life to focusing on their murals and prepare for college. That is, until they meet Santiago López Alvarado, the hot new waiter. Falling for each other becomes as natural as breathing. Through Santi's eyes, Ander starts to understand who they are and want to be as an artist, and Ander becomes Santi's first steps toward making Santos Vista and the United States feel like home.

Until ICE agents come for Santi, and Ander realizes how fragile that sense of home is. How love can only hold on so long when the whole world is against them. And when, eventually, the world starts to win.

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268 Reviews

4.0
Rolling on the Floor Laughing Face
Believable charactersDiverse charactersMulti-layered charactersDescriptive writingEasy to readFunny writingOriginal writingRealistic settingComing of ageThought-provoking
“What a beautiful romantic story that also paints the heartbreaking truth of deportation and the lengths people go to in order to be with those they love.”
Thinking Face
Believable charactersDiverse charactersMulti-layered charactersDescriptive writingSuspensefulRealistic settingThought-provokingBigotryRacism
“This was beautiful! A Mexican-American teen falls in love with an undocumented Mexican American teen and they go on a journey of both self discovery and blossoming love. Andre & Santi were both beautiful and complex main characters. This was a very poignant, queer love story That created space for so many different identities. I really enjoyed how Ander did not let outside influence limit him or put him in a box. And Santi held my heart as he was so open and loving and accepting in a way that is so rare to see. Their struggles in the way that they came together to support and appreciate each other made a very emotional conclusion. I’m really happy I picked this book up and pushed through a really long Libby hold lol”

About Jonny Garza Villa

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, including the Pura Belpré Honor Book Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun and Ander & Santi Were Here, a Bookshop.org Best YA of 2023 selection. Whatever the storyline, Jonny ultimately hopes Latines, and, more specifically, queer Mexican American young people will feel seen in their writing. When not writing, Jonny enjoys reading, playing Dungeons and Dragons, visiting taquerías, listening to Selena, and caring for their many cacti children. They live in San Antonio.

Other books by Jonny Garza Villa

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