Starred Review Nineteen-year-old Mexican American artist Ander, who is nonbinary and gay, is taking a gap year off before they enroll in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Instead, they are staying in San Antonio, having accepted a residency with an organization called Beautify Not Gentrify, which has them painting murals all over the city. "Everything about the art I get to do feels like me: Mexican, queer, and done in a way that's loudly and proudly both," they say. And yet they're conflicted; their adviser at SAIC tokenizes them, insisting that they only paint work with Mexican motifs, but Ander refuses to be put into a box. And then they meet Santi, the new waiter at their family's restaurant, and it's love at first sight. And there is no conflict here, for Santi returns their love. With both Santi and making art to love, Ander's life is perfect until they learn that Santi is undocumented and is then taken by ICE agents to be sent back to Mexico. Ander cannot imagine a life without Santi, but what are they to do? In Santi, Garza Villa has done a superb job of verisimilitude, taking their readers into the precarious life and circumstances of an undocumented teen. Too, the love between the two teens is beautifully realized without a false note, proving that Garza Villa is as much an artist as Ander.

U.S. immigration policies complicate a relationship between two queer San Antonio, Tex., teens in this fervent drama by Garza Villa (Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun). When not working at their tita’s taqueria, called Lupe’s, 19-year-old nonbinary Mexican American artist Ander Martínez spends their time painting murals throughout the neighborhood. After they spot new hire Santiago taking a selfie with one of Ander’s creations, they’re immediately drawn to him. Despite Ander’s mother’s protestations against the teens getting involved, Ander and Santi pursue a blissful romantic relationship, one that allows Ander to open up about conflicting feelings surrounding their art and future goals. Following a harrowing run-in with ICE agents, Ander worries about what Santi’s undocumented status could mean for their relationship. As Ander and Santi try to figure out what comes next for them, a devastating incident threatens to separate them for good. Through the teens’ tender courtship and Ander’s identity exploration, as depicted through descriptions of their unapologetically queer and Mexican art, Garza Villa provides a critical examination of government surveillance and its effect on immigrant residents in this blistering tale of enduring love and communal care. Ages 14–up. Agent: Claire Draper, Bent Agency. (May)