An unforgettable YA debut about two Latina teens growing up in East Oakland as they discover that the world is brimming with messy complexities, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Erika L. Sánchez.
Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She’s at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant—by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about, because he’s Black, and her parents are racist.
Things are hella complicated.
Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?
From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She’s at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant—by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about, because he’s Black, and her parents are racist.
Things are hella complicated.
Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?
From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Praise for this book
"The warmth and realness of Carolina Ixta's heartfelt debut Shut Up, This Is Serious is palatable. With each passing page, I drifted away into these visceral descriptions of Oakland girlhood. I love these complicated, smart, and funny characters. I feel like I need a bumper sticker: Belen and Leti are my homegirls! That way, I can sing this book's praises wherever I roam." - Kali Fajardo-Anstine
"Carolina Ixta is a master storyteller, weaving a visceral, soul-searing debut. Shut Up, This Is Serious shows the depth of best friendship, the heartbreak of being abandoned by a parent, and the powerful revelations of a teenage girl as she navigates relationships, sex, and her mental health. This book will grab you and refuse to let go, and by the end you will have fallen in love with the beautiful, lyrical prose, the un-put-downable plot, and most of all, Belen herself." - Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
"Shut Up, This Is Serious accomplishes an impressive feat in its brilliant display of a young girl's complicated life with language that startles and stuns, daring to trust you with the lush interiority of a teenage girl's contention with sex, race, and family. This novel is an unabashedly funny and honest depiction of Oakland, girlhood, and friendship that doesn't hesitate in its piercing accuracy while upholding the beauty and awkwardness of the world these characters inhabit." - Leila Mottley
"Carolina Ixta is a master storyteller, weaving a visceral, soul-searing debut. Shut Up, This Is Serious shows the depth of best friendship, the heartbreak of being abandoned by a parent, and the powerful revelations of a teenage girl as she navigates relationships, sex, and her mental health. This book will grab you and refuse to let go, and by the end you will have fallen in love with the beautiful, lyrical prose, the un-put-downable plot, and most of all, Belen herself." - Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
"Shut Up, This Is Serious accomplishes an impressive feat in its brilliant display of a young girl's complicated life with language that startles and stuns, daring to trust you with the lush interiority of a teenage girl's contention with sex, race, and family. This novel is an unabashedly funny and honest depiction of Oakland, girlhood, and friendship that doesn't hesitate in its piercing accuracy while upholding the beauty and awkwardness of the world these characters inhabit." - Leila Mottley
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Used availability for Carolina Ixta's Shut Up, This Is Serious