Oye: A Novel | Melissa Mogollon
A coming-of-age comedy. A telenovela-worthy drama. A moving family saga. All in a phone call you wont want to hang up on. Brilliant . . . Melissa Mogollon did not come to play.Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age Yes, hi, Mari. Its me. Im over my tantrum now and calling you back . . . But firstyou have to promise that you wont tell Mom or Abue any of this. Okay? Theyll set the house on fire if they find out . . . Structured as a series of one-sided phone calls from our spunky, sarcastic narrator, Luciana, to her older sister, Mari, this wildly inventive debut jump-starts your heart in the same way it piques your ear (Xochitl Gonzalez). As the baby of her large Colombian American family, Luciana is usually relegated to the sidelines. But now she finds herself as the only voice of reason in the face of an unexpected crisis: A hurricane is heading straight for Miami, and her eccentric grandmother, Abue, is refusing to evacuate. Abue is so one-of-a-kind shes basically in her own universe, and while she often drives Luciana nuts, theyre the only ones who truly understand each other. So when Abue, normally glamorous and full of life, receives a shocking medical diagnosis during the storm, Lucianas world is upended. When Abue moves into Lucianas bedroom, their complicated bond intensifies. Luciana would rather be skating or sneaking out to meet girls, but Abues wild demands and unpredictable antics are a welcome distraction for Luciana from her misguided mother, absent sister, and uncertain future. Forced to step into the role of caretaker, translator, and keeper of the devastating family secrets that Abue begins to share, Luciana suddenly finds herself center stage, facing down adulthoodand rising to the occasion. As Luciana chronicles the events of her disrupted senior year of high school over the phone to Mari, Oye unfolds like the most fascinating and entertaining conversation youve ever eavesdropped on: a rollicking, heartfelt, and utterly unique novel that celebrates the beauty revealed and resilience required when rewriting your own story.