ANDER & SANTI WERE HERE

Avi Roque gives a spirited, deeply emotional performance of this queer love story set in San Antonio. Nonbinary Mexican American teen Ander is taking a gap year before college, working at their family’s taqueria and focusing on their art. When they fall in love with the taqueria’s newest employee, an undocumented Mexican boy named Santi, it opens up their world in unexpected ways. Roque’s warm and musical narration is utter perfection. They capture Ander and Santi’s fear with vivid immediacy and also infuse their voices with bubbly happiness. In moments of tenderness, their breath catches. They switch easily between Spanish and English and use a half-dozen unique accents for different characters. This audiobook is a heartbreaking, joyful love letter to queer Latinx communities. L.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2023 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2023]