by Mark Oshiro
Tor Teen
3/28/2023, hardcover
SKU: 9781250812254
When you're like me, you have to lie.
It's been one year since Manny was cast out of his family and driven into the wilderness of the American Southwest. Since then, Manny lives by self-taught rules that keep him moving--and keep him alive. Now, he's taking a chance on a traveling situation with the Varela family, whose attractive but surly son, Carlos, seems to promise a new future.
I can't let anyone down.
Eli abides by the rules of his family, living in a secluded community that raised him to believe his obedience will be rewarded. But an unsettling question slowly eats away at Eli's once unwavering faith in Reconciliation: Why can't he remember his past?
What am I supposed to do?
But the reported discovery of an unidentified body found in the hills of Idyllwild, California, will draw both of these young men into facing their biggest fears and confronting their own identity--and who they are allowed to be.
Find the truth.
Target age: 13 to 17
Reviews:
"Oshiro persuasively cultivates suspense... this breathtaking indictment of corrupted religion's consequences presents a standout, deeply felt portrait of a teenager's longing for connection." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"An edge-of-your-seat mystery with speculative elements... An important and searing read on the value of family, agency, and belief." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
About the Author:
Mark Oshiro is the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning Latinx queer author of Anger Is a Gift, Each of Us a Desert, and Into the Light, as well as their middle grade books The Insiders, You Only Live Once, David Bravo, and Star Wars Hunters: Battle for the Arena. They are the coauthor (with Rick Riordan) of The Sun and the Star: A Nico Di Angelo Adventure. When not writing, they are trying to pet every dog in the world.