Pura Belpré Honor Book
“Garza Villa’s debut is buoyed by tenderness and humor amid moments of deep pain…An open-hearted expression of love in its many forms.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Although parts of the story are heartbreaking and heavy, they are balanced with humor and hope, giving queer teens of color opportunities to see joy and love reflected back to them. Tender, touching, hopeful, and hilarious; enthusiastically recommended for all collections.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
“Deeply moving, Villa’s debut fills a longstanding need in LGBTQ+ literature for more Latinx characters and a love story between two BIPOC characters. A lovely, important book that deserves a wide readership.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Offering accessible prose that impeccably interweaves Spanish and English, Garza Villa’s tender debut is sex-positive and romantic, balancing humor and heartfelt relationships even as it shows the joys and pains of one person’s experience coming out.” —Publishers Weekly
“Emotional, heartfelt, and at times heartbreaking, this vulnerable and ultimately hopeful story is healing. Jonny writes with clear care and intention for their younger readers. Beautifully done.” —Kacen Callender, author of Felix Ever After and This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story
“Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun is the gay happily-ever-after romance I longed for as a teen! With its fun and refreshing voice, the book depicts a long-distance relationship that is sweet and incredibly authentic for teens nowadays. This book tackles the intense, nuanced struggles queer Latinx kids face with care and compassion. It’s a story of love, hope, and healing that we all need right now.” —Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys
“This book is a revelation. It’s like Jonny Garza Villa wrote a book for seventeen-year-old me just as much as they wrote it for the person I am today. Told in a wildly entertaining, conversational style, it’s equal parts heartbreak and joy, and it centers queer people of color in all their brilliant glory. It’s the Whataburger to my In-N-Out, and I can’t wait for the world to lose their shit over it.” —Mark Oshiro, author of Anger Is a Gift and Each of Us a Desert
“Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun perfectly captures everything bittersweet about digital dating and long-term long-distance relationships without sacrificing an ounce of romance. Jonny Garza Villa lights up the sky in a debut that’s equal parts heartbreaking and healing, sincere and snarky, with a cast of teens you will want to fight for.” —Anna Meriano, author of This Is How We Fly
“Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun shines like a supernova. A heartfelt debut that sings with its authentic moments of discovery, pain, triumph, humor, and tender romance. Julián Luna’s journey is universally relatable and deeply needed.” —Julian Winters, award-winning author of Running with Lions
“An emotionally honest book that captures both sides of coming out as a gay teen: the light, laughter, and joy, and the difficulties and devastation.” —Adiba Jaigirdar, author of The Henna Wars
“A stunning debut about first love, longing, and loving yourself.” —Mason Deaver, bestselling author of I Wish You All the Best and The Ghosts We Keep
“A refreshing addition to LGBTQ literature, Garza Villa’s Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun authentically reminds us of the power of love, the strength of friendships (near and far), and most importantly, the complexities of living as our true selves. A book I wish I had when I was a teen, and a must read by all those, no matter their ages, working to define themselves in this messed-up, complicated, beautiful world.” —Kosoko Jackson, author of Yesterday Is History
“Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa is definitely the book I wish I’d had when I was younger! It’s a sweet rom-com with a Latino main character who falls for his Twitter crush after messily coming out to the internet. It’s the first time I saw a character going through similar experiences I had growing up as both Latinx and queer, and how complicated those intersections can be…” —Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys
★ 06/01/2021
Gr 9 Up—Julián "Jules" Luna is a closeted gay teen pressured by his father to be a machismo, heteronormative Mexican American. He has endured both emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his father, who refuses to allow him to acknowledge his true self. One night, a drunken tweet results in Jules inadvertently outing himself to his entire school. While some students harass him, his core group of friends supports him, and a Twitter flirtation evolves into a long-distance relationship with Mat, a Vietnamese American teen living in Los Angeles. Jules dreams of escaping Corpus Christi, TX and going to college in L.A. and being close to Mat. When a hate crime forcibly outs Jules, his dad kicks him out of the house. Relationships with the likable characters of his sister Xochi, grandfather Güelo, Mat, and friends provide comfort to Jules as he is vulnerable and adjusts to living his life authentically. Readers will empathize and connect with Jules as a well-rounded character who loves cooking, soccer, and is a vegetarian. The banter-filled, amusing, conversational writing style includes slang and Spanish terms that can be understood via context. Although parts of the story are heartbreaking and heavy, they are balanced with humor and hope, giving queer teens of color opportunities to see joy and love reflected back to them. Content warnings are advised for emotional and physical abuse, homophobia, homophobic and racist slurs, and forced outing. VERDICT Tender, touching, hopeful, and hilarious; enthusiastically recommended for all collections.—Lisa Krok, Morley Lib., Cleveland, OH
★ 2021-04-27
Julián “Jules” Luna is a closeted junior who is about to have his life turned upside down.
Set on leaving Texas to go to UCLA, Mexican American Jules is betting that moving 1,500 miles away will allow him the space to finally come out. Despite being surrounded by fiercely loving friends, he has accepted the duality of his closeted life, which he keeps under wraps to avoid his homophobic father’s verbal and physical abuse. When a drunken night leads to his accidentally coming out on Twitter, he is catapulted into an out life, which—amazingly—includes a blossoming relationship with Mat, a Vietnamese American boy and online crush who happens to live in Los Angeles. Garza Villa’s debut is buoyed by tenderness and humor amid moments of deep pain. The gay romance certainly delivers in Jules and Mat’s adorable chemistry, but the real standout is the love story between Jules and his (mostly Latinx) friends as they live life to its fullest together, standing on the precipice of new beginnings before leaving for college. Jules’ friendship with Jordan, his straight, Black soccer teammate, is exceptionally moving in the boys’ mutual care and vulnerability. The delightfully sassy Spanglish with myriad pop-culture references seamlessly woven into the conversational prose is an added bonus.
An open-hearted expression of love in its many forms. (Fiction. 14-18)
