Brownstone / script by Samuel Teer ; illustrations by Marina Julia.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

An Indie Next List Selection!

A Harvey Award Nominee!

"Angsty. Awkward. With a scrappy heart of gold, Brownstone is a must-read for anyone who's ever felt totally out of place." --Gabby Rivera, bestselling author of Juliet Takes a Breath

An exciting teen coming-of-age epic from author Samuel Teer and debut graphic novel artist Mar Julia, Brownstone is a vivid, sweeping, ultimately hopeful story about navigating your heritage even when you feel like you don't quite fit in.

Almudena has always wondered about the dad she never met.

Now, with her white mother headed on a once-in-a-lifetime trip without her, she's left alone with her Guatemalan father for an entire summer. Xavier seems happy to see her, but he expects her to live in (and help fix up) his old, broken-down brownstone. And all along, she must navigate the language barrier of his rapid-fire Spanish--which she doesn't speak.

As Almudena tries to adjust to this new reality, she gets to know the residents of Xavier's Latin American neighborhood. Each member of the community has their own joys and heartbreaks as well as their own strong opinions on how this young Latina should talk, dress, and behave. Some can't understand why she doesn't know where she comes from. Others think she's "not brown enough" to fit in.

But time is running out for Almudena and Xavier to get to know each other, and the key to their connection may ultimately lie in bringing all these different elements together. Fixing a broken building is one thing, but turning these stubborn individuals into a found family might take more than this one summer.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Almost-15-year-old Almudena meets her father for the first time in this affecting 1995-set graphic novel exploration of identity and family. When Almudena's white mother accepts a principal role in a dance tour, Almudena must stay with her father while he renovates a brownstone in his predominantly Latinx neighborhood. Upon learning that he's Guatemalan--and not Mexican like she assumed--Almudena's perception of her heritage comes unglued, revealing her own internal biases ("Aren't Mexico and Guatemala basically the same place?"). While working on building repairs with her father, the pair face various challenges, such as overcoming language barriers--he speaks only Spanish and Almudena knows only English, a dynamic that's sometimes rendered in speech bubbles reading "(Spanish, probably)." Almudena also experiences disappointment at her father's romantic relationship with a neighbor, which shatters fantasies about her parents reuniting. Via Almudena's resourceful and unfettered perspective, Teer (Veda) interrogates characters' preconceived notions surrounding one another's ethnicity and sexuality, clearing a path for greater openness and vulnerability throughout the community, which Almudena begins to see as an extension of her own family unit. Fluid illustrations by Julia (Who Was the Voice of the People?), saturated in rich earth tones, expressively distinguish each character's personality and breathe life into the vibrant metropolitan neighborhood. This energetic and emotionally grounded story hits the mark, culminating in a satisfyingly transformative tale. Ages 14--up. Agent: Ben Grange, JABberwocky Literary. (June)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up--A superb coming-of-age graphic novel that delves deep into contemporary complex topics, such as family, friendship, race, ethnicity, identity, and more. With easy-to-follow dialogue and beautiful, captivating illustrations, Teer and Julia bring readers into Almudena's consciousness. Almudena, who is just about to turn 15, is spending the summer with her father while her mother is on a work trip. This may sound pretty run-of-the-mill, but Almudena has never met her father; they do not speak the same language; his family plans for the summer are to renovate the brownstone he inhabits. That starts off the summer on a sour note, but while they work on the renovations, Almudena starts to learn not only about her father, their heritage, and others living in the neighborhood, but she also gets to know more about her true self and where she fits in the world. Brownstone gives a sense of what family means and that it goes beyond just sharing the same blood. VERDICT A great YA graphic novel for teens who are trying to figure out who they are or anyone who has ever felt like they were on the outside. This would be a popular title for fans of Christine Suggs's ¡Ay, Mija!: My Bilingual Summer in Mexico, Deb JJ Lee's In Limbo, and Emily Bowen Cohen's Two Tribes.--Cat Miserendino

Booklist Review

Almudena has never met her biological father. However, when her white mother accepts the opportunity to perform for a prestigious dance company, she leaves Almudena with her Guatemalan father for the summer. Her father is happy to meet her and expects her to stay at his rundown brownstone and fix it up with him. But how can she help him if they don't speak the same language? As Almudena familiarizes herself with her new surroundings, she learns more about the community and their culture. Almudena begins to form a close bond with her neighbors when she realizes that summer is slipping away, but there is much to get done before the brownstone is finished. The neat, descriptive illustrations are full of bright and vivid colors. The backdrop of some panels shows a rundown neighborhood filled with graffiti, homelessness, gangs, and closed-down businesses. However, those same panels and more show the community uniting to support one another. The story brings to life the experiences and people of an urban Latinx neighborhood.

Horn Book Review

In this empathetic coming-of-age graphic novel, nearly-fifteen-year-old Almudena reluctantly spends the summer of 1995 with Xavier, her Guatemalan father whom she's never met, so that her (non-Latine) mother can accept a dream job in Europe. June starts off unpleasantly -- Almudena's stereotypical view of Latine culture alienates her Guatemalan neighbors, and her unfamiliarity with Spanish causes frustratingly stilted communication with Xavier as they spend their days renovating his rundown brownstone. But as the summer months pass, Almudena makes genuine efforts to embrace the heritage she's never known -- from chile relleno to her own quinceanera -- and build relationships with the brownstone's prospective new tenants as they share their challenges surrounding gentrification, racism, and homophobia. Father and daughter gradually improve in their communication, culminating in bittersweet yet hopeful revelations surrounding his absence from her life and in her reassessing what she considers to be a "perfect family." The earth-toned illustrations warmly depict Xavier's metropolitan neighborhood and are full of affectionate detail, from refinement of the brownstone throughout its restoration to Almudena's resemblances to both parents. Spanish dialogue is either untranslated, paraphrased into English, or represented through Almudena's observations ("rapid-fire Spanish-sounding stuff"). Teer shows his characters' shortcomings without framing anyone as an antagonist and omits most period-specific references in favor of concentrating on timeless emotions related to overcoming cultural imposter syndrome. Emma ShacochisSeptember/October 2024 p.90 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Fourteen-year-old Almudena reconnects with her estranged Guatemalan father during a revelatory summer. When her white mom gets the opportunity to tour as the star of an international dance show, Almudena must spend the summer in the city with Xavier, the father she's never met. Further exacerbating her woes, Almudena doesn't speak Spanish, and Xavier speaks very little English. Xavier nonetheless expects her to help him renovate a dilapidated brownstone and turn it into housing for folks in the community who need an affordable rental. As father and daughter rehabilitate the house, floor by floor (cue Almudena: "Ugh. That all sounds like a metaphor, doesn't it?"), she learns more about her father, including his beliefs, challenges, and life. Navigating the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood as an outsider, Almudena meets Latine people who inadvertently or purposefully question her Latine status. Almudena slowly discovers how she fits into her new community and pieces together a makeshift familia that's imperfect but feels right. This coming-of-age tale chimes with discreet moments of humor and lots of heart, all centered around questions of heritage, identity, compassion, and acceptance and exemplified by the scrappy, vivid artwork, which wonderfully captures Almudena's inner turmoil. Almudena's blossoming relationship with her father ends on a cheerful note, and her moments of rapport with her summertime neighbors and their stories are frequent highlights that touch upon topics such as prejudice against brown folks and queerness in the Latine community. Beautifully profound. (Graphic fiction. 12-16) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.