e-ARC, 336 pages
Release Date: July 14, 2020
Published by: Clarion Books
Read from: July 8-15, 2020
Stand-alone
Source: Edelweiss/Netgalley (I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss/Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW:
For fans of: Political YA, POC MC, POC on Cover, Contemporary, Sparkly Covers, Diverse Authors, Own Voices, Realistic Fiction, Stand-alones, YAWhen fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching.
In this thoughtful, authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter’s vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a 60 Minutes–style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father’s political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was.
But how do you find your voice when everyone’s watching? When it means disagreeing with your father—publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it?
*MY THOUGHTS*
By looking at my Goodreads “pre”review of this book, you will see that I was super excited to read this from the moment I knew what it was about. I don’t even think the cover was announced before I smashed my mouse down to say To-Read. And now that I”ve read it, it was definitely worth all the excitement I had for it.
“That’s why my father’s running for president. To make things better for everyone. Except, it turns out, me.”2%
Mari’s dad, Senator Ruiz is running for President. Which means his family is also running. But Mari is beginning to hate everything that comes with it, like a live tour of her room and doctored photos. It gets worse as Mari learns the things her dad has on his campaign and she doesn’t like what she sees.
“It’s just, there’s no such thing as a non-statement. Even saying nothing says a lot.”45%
My only real gripe with this was Mari. I just didn’t see how she might have been part of the First Family and she had no idea what her dad’s campaign was about. I get it if you have no connection to anyone and you choose not to vote and things like that, for that to be your dad and there’s a chance you might move to the White House and you’re not even a little bit curious to look into what he says before then? Idk man, I just didn’t sit right with me. But as for everyone else, I loved her family. I wish we had gotten to see more of them. Everything seemed so surface level. I wanted to know more about them. And her friends were awesome. They weren’t afraid to ask the hard questions, even when they made people uncomfortable. And we all need people like that in our corner.
“Since when do you get bonus points for doing the bare minimum?”60%
Everything else was awesome. Sylvester’s writing style. I was so invested in this one that I was really taking down some notes on who I might vote for in that situation. I would have liked to see more of the opposing team’s views instead of just at the very end, but I get why she might have done it that way.
“You know what, fuck the mike,” she says. We’ll just have to make a ton of noise.”73%
I also liked this because of it’s readability! Another very important book that’s teachy and not preachy. The young ones are going to change the world, and after reading this, I hope they (and the adults reading this) really believe it. I also hope that those reading this will see all the things wrong and then apply it to actual life. This book shows the importance of having a voice, whether they are able to vote or not. I hope this encourages them to look more at what’s happening around them and be knowledgeable about some things. (Not enough to where they’re scared and stressed like me because man, I know that struggle. But enough to know what to expect.) I also learned that this featured a real bill. Being from Texas, I didn’t know about it. I looked more into it and I hope others do as well when they read it.
“It’s different when your community isn’t directly affected.”74%
I had a few gripes, but for the most part, this book is going to be very powerful. I hope they realize it and apply what they learn to everyday life. I’m so glad this important book comes out right when these teens need it the most.
Overall, I give this
Will you read this? Aren’t you excited it came out during an election year? Did you know this was based on a real bill? Let me know in the comments!