First published 2024
Hector Santinio grows up in 1940s Harlem, where his Cuban parents Alejo and Mercedes have built a new life filled with relatives, dancing, and loud celebrations that push away homesickness. When Mercedes takes Hector and his brother back to Cuba so they can connect with their heritage, Hector falls seriously ill. The sickness lands him in an American hospital, separated from his family for weeks. During this isolation, he loses much of his ability to speak Spanish. This linguistic fracture becomes the defining wound of his childhood. Hector must now navigate between two identities that no longer fit together easily. He struggles to understand his parents' dreams and fears as immigrants while trying to rebuild his connection to the Cuban culture that illness stole from him. The loss of language becomes a loss of belonging that will shape his entire journey toward adulthood.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Cuba, Harlem
Period: 1940s
263 pages · Kindle Edition · Grand Central Publishing