September 29, 2026 by HarperAlley
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Luis Menendez spends most of his free time working at his parents' Havana Express restaurant with his Tio Pedro. Things aren't going well; his mother is meeting with new distributors and his father has had words with the landlord. When Luis makes suggestions to help the business, like signing up for online apps and having an internet presence, his father yells at him. Luis wants to be a music journalist, and has a lot of views on one of his posts about a street busker. A representative of Hype Media actually e mails and asks to see his work, and eventually offers him an internship. Even though he would really like the opportunity and thinks it would look good on college applications, Luis turns it down. He also starts dating a customer, Yara, on the sly. Her family roots are in Puerto Rico, but her father has done very well on the stock exchange. They've moved back to Queens for the Latine culture. Yara is understanding when Luis explains how angry his father gets when he does anything except work at the restaurant. After his father finds out about Yara and forbids Luis from hanging out with her, Luis decides to attend the Summer Sound Music Festival and accept the internship. His parents track his phone and find him, dragging him home. Yara isn't happy that Luis wasn't completely forthcoming with her, and Luis decides to just put his head down and do only what his father wants. When he learns that the landlord is close to evicting them, Luis works with his uncle to get the restaurant signed up on delivery apps. Business booms, but his father still isn't happy. Is there any way that Luis can meet his father's demands and save the business?
Strengths: I loved the illustration style of this; it made it seem much older than middle grade graphic novels. There's something about the characters being leaner and more angular instead of rounded that someone seems more "teen". This is an excellent "windows and mirrors" book; readers whose own family immigration stories happened generations ago will develop a new understanding for how difficult it was for their ancestors to come to a new country for a better life, and readers who may themselves have some from elsewhere will feel less alone if their parents are also demanding. As a Gen X'er the father's reactions seemed fairly normal. Why would Luis have fun when he could be working? It was interesting to see him balance his own desires while trying his best to make his father happy. I'll definitely purchase a copy.
Weaknesses: While this is absolutely appropriate for middle school readers, it does have a teen level of angst that elementary students might find repetitive.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like to learn about the tension over expectations in some immigrant families and enjoyed books like Yang's Front Desk, Chari's Karthik Delivers and Kuo's In the Beautiful Country. While Luis is in high school, I think this will have more appeal to middle school readers than this author's Frontera.
Weaknesses: While this is absolutely appropriate for middle school readers, it does have a teen level of angst that elementary students might find repetitive.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like to learn about the tension over expectations in some immigrant families and enjoyed books like Yang's Front Desk, Chari's Karthik Delivers and Kuo's In the Beautiful Country. While Luis is in high school, I think this will have more appeal to middle school readers than this author's Frontera.
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