by Achy Obejas
First published 2025
Achy Obejas lives in what she calls the boy kingdom with her two sons. She watches them move through childhood with wild energy while managing the everyday details of family life: preparing mac and cheese, staying home during sick days, watching television together. As a Cuban American lesbian mother, Achy carries multiple identities that shape how she parents. Her elder son looks at her strangely when she speaks Spanish, as if she were dancing with the dead. Her boys choose mac and cheese over tostones. They go on fishing trips with their fathers. One day her elder son comes home from school upset and finally reveals that boys yelled at him about having queer mothers. Through these moments, Achy explores what it means to be a mother whose experience differs from the conventional narrative. The collection moves beyond her immediate family to examine her parents, her Cuban heritage, and her divorce from her wife.
Genres: family-life, memoir, 21st-century, lgbt
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, identity
Setting: Cuba
Period: 21st-century
152 pages · Paperback · Beacon Press
Content warnings: homophobia