Oye by Melissa Mogollon
I don’t know how to talk about this book without sounding like a wild-eyed fangirl pero ahí les va. Columbian American teen Luciana has been tasked with serving as caretaker to her abuela while trying to get through her senior year of high school. She’s also trying to convince Abue to evacuate the family home as Hurricane Irma barrels its way toward Miami. Then Abue receives a crushing medical diagnosis, and the already eccentric, stubborn old woman digs in her heels, refusing to leave. Through a series of phone calls to Luciana’s older sister that are so fully drawn that you feel like you’re listening in on another line, we get to know Luciana, Abue, Luciana’s mother, and other women in the family as they unpack long-buried secrets, generational trauma (oof), and all the hot goss. This debut is a warm hug, a full-body laugh, a punch to the gut, and the juiciest chisme—plus my kind of profanity. I just love it, so much. —Vanessa Diaz