Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster

April 4, 2022
Mosqueda’s whirlwind debut features a love tangle set in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. Sixteen-year-old Chicana Magdalena “Maggie” Gonzalez is “good at life but bad at love.” Openly bisexual and romantically closed off, she insists that friendships and her planned future career as a photographer are all she needs. But those strong relationships offer too many options when, needing a date to her sister’s quinceañera, Maggie can’t decide who to ask. There’s longtime best friend Amanda Guevara, who Maggie was in love with in middle school; Maggie’s amicable and overly flirtatious ex-boyfriend, Matthew Maldonado; and new girl Daniela “Dani” Mendoza, who has her own romantic insecurities. She hopes that throwing herself into a school photography project will help her come to a decision, but she quickly discovers that love, relationships, and the disasters they often present can’t be navigated in photography’s two-dimensional plane. While the teens’ voices sometimes feel overly adult, and outdated pop culture references fail to support the modern setting, the story’s themes of honesty and establishing personal boundaries are its strength. Frank discussion of toxic relationships and conflict resolution will endear readers looking for healthier romances in their narratives. Most characters cue as Chicanx. Ages 14–up. Agent: Lauren MacLeod, Strothman Agency.

September 30, 2022

Gr 9 Up-Sixteen-year-old Magdalena "Maggie" Gonzalez is growing up in the Rio Grande Valley surrounded by her rich Chicanx culture. She's a Libra, an aspiring photographer, openly bisexual, and in desperate need of a date to her youngest sister's quincea�era . But with conflicting romantic feelings for three different people, how does she decide whom to ask? By using social media for a school assignment, of course. For a semester-long art project, Maggie creates a finsta where she posts her photography and journals in the captions to navigate through her feelings about her childhood best friend Amanda, her ex-boyfriend Mathew, and Danie, the new girl in town. Messy feelings, a dramatic love triangle, and relatable characters will hook readers into this masterful and satisfying debut novel about honesty, accountability, privacy, and boundaries. VERDICT A solid purchase for teen collections.-Kayla Fontaine

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September 23, 2022
Grades 9-12 Mosqueda's heart-filled debut follows Maggie Gonzalez, a girl from Texas' Rio Grande Valley who has serious goals of becoming a music photographer. Her immediate focus, however, is on finding a date to her sister's quincea�era. This is a complicated proposition because Maggie, who is bisexual, has been harboring romantic feelings for three different people--her best friend, Amanda; new girl Dani; and her ex-boyfriend, Matthew--and is unsure who to pursue. As the weeks pass by, readers follow Maggie's inner struggles to figure out who she is, what she wants, and what the future might hold for her. When her feelings for the three begin creating confusing moments and a touch of havoc, Maggie attempts to navigate her complex emotions without creating messier situations that could permanently impact these valued friendships. Full of realistic elements and engaging moments throughout, the story effectively portrays the ups and downs that come with discovering new things about yourself as a person.

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