Ander & Santi Were Here

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, these things make them hesitant — they wonder if they're 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 preparing 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 begins to understand who they are and who they want to be as an artist, and Ander becomes Santi's first step 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.

Aristotle and Dante meets The Hate U Give meets The Sun Is Also A Star: A stunning YA contemporary love story about a Mexican-American teen who falls in love with an undocumented Mexican boy. Finding home. Falling in love. Fighting to belong.