PURA BELPRÉ HONOR BOOK • A powerful young adult novel-in-verse about a Texas teen battling racism in her theater program and book banning efforts by her town’s school board--from the acclaimed author of An International Literacy Association Notable Book for a Global Society;• Selected for ALA’s Rise: A Feminist Book Project List Yulieta Lopez is angry. Angry at her racist drama teacher who refuses to cast Black students in lead roles. Angry at the school board threatening her favorite teacher for teaching works of literature that they deem “controversial.” Angry that she has to keep quiet until she can head to college and leave Texas forever. Yuli is accustomed to playing various roles: the diligent daughter, the honorable hija, the good girl who serves everyone else before serving herself. But as the fire of Yuli''s rage spreads and lights her up, she can no longer be silent. Determined to find a way to fight back, Yuli and her friends start a guerilla theatre club which stirs things up and gets people talking, and finally, Yuli steps into the role she was always meant to play.

Autorentext

Jasminne Mendez is two-time Pura Belpré Honor Award recipient and a Dominican-American poet, playwright and author of several books for children and adults. She is also a poet, playwright, translator, and professional audiobook narrator. Her book Aniana del Mar Jumps In (Dial), a novel in verse about a young girl diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and others. Her YA memoir, Islands Apart: Becoming Dominican American (Arte Público Press) and her debut poetry collection, City Without Altar (Noemi Press), were recently recognized with honors and awards by the Texas Institute of Letters and her debut picture book Josefina’s Habichuelas (Arte Público Press) was the 2022 Writer’s League of Texas Children’s Book Discovery Prize Winner. She has translated Amanda Gorman’s best-selling picture books Change Sings (La canción del cambio) and Something, Someday (Algo, algún día), the best selling picture book The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (El proyecto 1619: Nacieron sobre el agua) by Nikole Hannah Jones and Reneé Watson and the Pura Belpré Award Winning graphic novel Frizzy (Rizos) by Claribel Ortega.

Klappentext

**PURA BELPRÉ AUTHOR HONOR AWARD • In this powerful novel in verse, a Texan teen fights against racism and book banning efforts in her town by creating a theatre club that speaks up and speaks out.

“A powerful love letter to finding and using your voice.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“The perfect read for teens who are being impacted by book banning and other sociopolitical changes.”—Booklist, starred review
**
Yulieta Lopez is accustomed to playing various roles: the diligent daughter, the honorable hija, the good girl who swallows the flames in her throat before they burn anyone. But the fire inside Yuli is spreading, and she can no longer be silent.

Because Yuli is angry. Angry at the school board threatening to ban books that made Yuli feel seen. Angry that she has to keep quiet until she can head to college and leave Texas forever. And angry at her racist drama teacher who refuses to cast Black students in lead roles. Determined to fight back, Yuli and her friends start a guerrilla theater club, which stirs things up and gets people talking, and finally, Yuli steps into the role she was always meant to play.

This powerful novel in verse is a timely story of resistance, a raw reflection of righteous anger in an unjust world, and a reminder that sometimes, the only way to be heard is to speak up and take center stage.
*
*AN INTERNATIONAL LITERACY ASSOCIATION NOTABLE BOOK FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY

Leseprobe
PROLOGUE

EVERYTHING’S BIGGER . . .

in Texas
from the stars in the sky that scatter
like glitter across a big black canvas
with no beginning or end
to the fields of bluebonnets that whip and wind
down Interstate 10
from the sprawling gas stations like Buc-ee’s
to the mega grocery stores like H-E-B
filled to the brim with aisles and aisles
of beef jerky, BBQ brisket, breakfast tacos,
tortillas, tamales, sombreros, and sarapes
to the flying cockroaches that refuse
to get caught between the sole of a chancla
and a hardwood floorboard
from the kindness of strangers who will
“bless your heart” and “thank you ma’am” for any ol’ thing
to the pickup trucks that grumble and chug
and haul barrels of hay, horses, and even houses
from the overcrowded gun conventions
that dare you to “Come and Take It”
to the Confederate flags that hang
and wave at you from your neighbor’s driveway.

Everything’s bigger
in Texas,
except the straight white Texan’s ability
to imagine a world where they are not
the center of the universe
which is why, I think, they keep making laws
and they keep changing the rules
to keep the rest of us “in our place”
to keep the rest of us
small.

SIT AND SIMMER

My name is Yulieta Lopez
and this is the story of my anger,
and how it became
a house fire I tried
to smother silent
but it spun into an asteroid
that slammed around inside me
and begged to be let out.
I didn’t want to play the part
of the angry Black girl
so I tried to keep the fire
contained in my belly
but it slithered out and snaked
itself around my throat—
a rope of smoke
that caused friction
in the folds of my body
and the longer I let it
sit and simmer
the harder it became
to just breathe.

ACT I:
Our Town

Time: Late August
Place: A Texas Suburb

but bein’ alive & bein’ a woman & bein’ colored is a metaphysical
dilemma/i haven’t conquered yet
*—*Ntozake Shange, for colored girls . . .

BREAKFAST AND BUTTERFLIES

Friday morning before the sun
kisses the Texas summer sky
my stomach is a storm
of nerves and nausea.
Today is a big day at school and though
I should be rushing to get ready
I can’t seem to will my spine
to sit up and get this day started.

Downstairs, oil sizzles in a sartén,
hot like the August air outside my window.
The salty smell of Dominican salami
slides into my room and my butterfly-filled
belly flips and flops.
Mami yells up the stairs:

“Yullliii.” Her voice is a cast iron pan
scraping a burner.
“Come down now! Your brother
is leaving in thirty minutes!!
Come set the table!
Ya el desayuno está listo.”

Breakfast may be ready
but I’m not.
I need just a few more minutes
before I’m forced to become
who everyone else expects me
to be.

THE PARTS I PLAY

The diligent daughter
who washes and scrubs
toilets and tubs.
Who dusts and vacuums
fans and floors.

The honorable hija
who always comes when called.
Who sets the table and serves
everyone else before serving herself.

The good girl
who follows all the rules
and knows how to smile
and stay positive
to keep Mami stress-free
for the sake of her health.

MAMI’S HEALTH

When Mami was seventeen
and lived in the Dominican Republic,
she was diagnosed with lupus.

It’s an illness that has attacked her joints,
muscles, skin, and internal organs.

Mami describes it like a fire inside
her whole body
causing everything
to be inflamed.

Sometimes Mami’s hands are so swollen
she can barely dress herself.
Sometime…