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by Gloria Muñoz
This dazzling YA cli-fi written in prose and verse will speak to any reader struggling with the state of our world and how to understand their place in it.
"In outer space, no one will know me as the girl with the dead sister."
Seventeen-year-old self-proclaimed Goth and aspiring writer Julieta Villarreal is drowning. She's grieving her twin sister who died in a hit-and-run, her Florida home is crumbling under the weight of climate disaster, and she isn't sure how much longer she can stand to stay in a place that doesn't seem to have room for her.
Then, Juli is recruited by Cometa, a private space program enlisting high-aptitude New American teens for a high-stakes mission to establish humanity's first extraterrestrial settlement. Cometa pitches this as an opportunity for Juli to give back to her adopted country; Juli sees it as her only chance to do something big with her life.
Juli begins her training, convinced Cometa is her path to freedom. But her senior year is full of surprises, including new friendships, roller skating, and first love. And through her small but poignant acts of environmentalism, Juli begins to find hope in unexpected places. As her world collapses from the ramifications of the climate crisis, Juli must decide if she'll carry her loss together with her community or leave it all behind.
Told in gripping prose interspersed with poems from Juli's writing journal, this genre-bending novel explores themes of immigration, climate justice, grief, and the power of communities.
"Through steadfast first-person narration and her poems, interspersed throughout, Juli relays daily happenings to her sister, whom she pretends to speak with in her head. Juli's situation, and the events that precede it, serve to challenge readers to consider how even the smallest action can change the trajectory of their lives in this thoughtful read that ruminates on the precarious state of the world." —Publishers Weekly
"An original storytelling style and post-apocalyptic setting make this coming-of-age novel a worthy and special read." —Kirkus Reviews
"With young people increasingly despondent over deteriorating environmental conditions, This Is the Year offers a pure gust of hope in an increasingly fractured and warming world. It is at once a cautionary futuristic tale and a balm for despairing hearts. Muñoz's tremendous poetic talent, relatable characters, and the unique premise of a space program for immigrant teens make this debut one you don't want to miss. This Is the Year is essential reading for anyone struggling to believe their small actions can make a meaningful difference in the climate emergency." —Nora Shalaway Carpenter, award-winning author of The Edge of Anything
"Gloria Munoz has created a beautifully crafted debut novel unlike any out there. Told in stunning prose and poetry, this dystopian tale of grief set in a crumbling city introduces us to a compelling young heroine found in a Latina goth named Julieta. This Is the Year will linger in your thoughts way after the last page is read." —Lilliam Rivera, award-winning author of Never Look Back
"Packed with lyrical prose and moving poetry, This Is the Year deftly explores grieving the people and places we once called home. This unflinching tale of loss also sparkles with the joys of first love, the beauty of friendship, and the resilience in our communities. Muñoz leaves readers with a soaring hopefulness that lingers long after the final page is turned." —Jessica Parra, author of Rubi Ramos's Recipe for Success and The Quince Project.
This information about This Is the Year was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Gloria Muñoz is the author of Your Biome Has Found You and Danzirly, which won the Ambroggio Prize and the Florida Gold Medal Book Award for Poetry. She is an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellow, a Hedgebrook Fellow, a Macondista, a Highlights Foundation Diverse Verse Fellow, and a part of Las Musas. This Is the Year is her debut novel.
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