Ander & Santi Were Here

Thank you Wednesday Books for this gifted copy.

I’m kicking off Pride Month with a YA book about a nonbinary Mexican American teen falling for the shy new waiter at their family’s taqueria, and I have a feeling this one is really going to gif at my heartstrings.

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.

💬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲?

AOTD: Our pool is finally open, so hopefully the sun comes out after I’m done working so I can head down with my books!