Canto Contigo

January 22, 2024
In December of his senior year, Mexican 17-year-old Rafael “Rafie” Álvarez is riding high: he’s a star vocalist in his school’s mariachi band, made out with a fellow mariachi member from a different school, and led North Amistad High School’s Mariachi Alma de la Frontera to their 11th first-place win in the Mariachi Extravaganza de Nacional. Eight months later, however, his family moves to San Antonio. Now attending a different school, Rafie auditions for Selena Quintanilla-Perez Academy’s Mariachi Todos Colores and is shafted into a secondary vocalist position—and the lead vocalist turns out to be transgender afromexicano Rey Chávez, the boy he hooked up with all those months ago. Beneath the fiery passion and desperate ambition of Rafie and Rey’s rivalry, however, Rafie contends with grief over his abuelo’s recent death and must decide if this persistent duel is worth pushing down his emotions and keeping a chance at healing—and romance—away at arm’s length. Positing that love and joy are life’s greatest experiences, Garza Villa (Ander & Santi Were Here) crafts an earnest story that is both a quiet exploration of grief and a fierce rivals-to-lovers romance that centers the intensity and importance of passion. Ages 13–up. Agent: Claire Draper, Bent Agency.

March 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* In this contemporary romance, Mexican American Rafie is fuming at his parents for making the family relocate to San Antonio. After the passing of his beloved grandfather (the man who introduced him to guitars and mariachi), Rafie is determined to be lead vocalist of his new high school's mariachi band and secure their win at the Extravaganza Nacional competition. Things take an unexpected turn when Rafie discovers that Rey, an old flame, goes to the same school and is already the band's lead vocalist. With an overabundance of ego and confidence, Rafie will stop at nothing to take over, even if that means breaking hearts. As both teens musically battle it out to see who is the best, their attraction to each other becomes undeniable. New friends, family, and a talking calavera help guide Rafie to breakthroughs in his domineering habits and grief. In their third teen romance, Garza Villa orchestrates another masterpiece about queer youth redefining traditional customs in Texas. Readers will empathize with the main characters as they bravely navigate recurring prejudices targeting their BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ identities (Rey is trans and receiving hormone therapy). The mention of musicians will leave readers quickly YouTubing songs by Vicente Fernandez, Selena, Bad Bunny, and more. A sweet love story with the positive message that not all change is bad.

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Starred review from February 1, 2024
A queer mariachi musician learns that his star shines brighter when it's part of a constellation. Seventeen-year-old Mexican American Rafael Casimiro �lvarez is destined for mariachi greatness. Not only has he won best vocalist two years in a row, but he's a third-generation musician. Rafie's plan for domination hits a snag when the mariachi director at his new performing arts school decides he's not ready to be lead vocalist. Being relegated to backup singing would be bad enough--the blow is compounded by the fact that Rey Ch�vez, the Afro-Latino lead vocalist, is the boy he hooked up with at last year's Mariachi Extravaganza Nacional. When Rey's voice cracks during a performance (Rey is transitioning), Rafie seizes the spotlight, earning the dubious honor of becoming co-lead vocalist. Weeks of training together thaw the ice between the boys until Rafie opens up about the pain of losing his abuelo and the stress of his family legacy. He lets himself feel the love he's suppressed for Rey, but just when they become a happy couple (onstage and off), Rafie's ambition threatens to destroy it all. The novel is driven by multiple, compounding elements--grief, Rafie's ambition, the suppressed romance, and the pressures of expectations--ensuring that the tension never dissipates, even once Rey and Rafie get together, much to readers' satisfaction. Racism, homophobia, and transphobia within the mariachi community are realistically portrayed, complicating that space without rejecting its beauty. A queer love letter to mariachi music and culture. (author's note) (Romance. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2024
Mariachi is everything to seventeen-year-old Mexican American Rafael Casimiro Alvarez, given his natural singing talent and the musical chops that run in his family. After the death of his abuelo, upholding his mariachi legacy becomes a way to cope with the loss. When Rafie's family moves from (fictional) North Amistad to San Antonio at the start of his senior year, he expects to be lead vocalist in his new school's perpetually second-place mariachi group, Todos Colores. His hubris wins him few fans and he is instead made to sing backup for Rey, a cute boy Rafie hooked up with at a party during the previous year's Mariachi Extravaganza Nacional competition. Rafie's ambition forces him to suppress his lingering feelings for Rey, but both find their mutual attraction difficult to ignore. Determined Rey, who is afromexicano and trans, is an antidote to Rafie's attitude, as are the queer and proud members of Todos Colores, a fully realized group who celebrates their Mexican heritage, and counter any mariachi conventions steeped in machismo and homophobia (as addressed in an author's note). The use of Mexican argot adds relatable humor, while Rafie's frustrating road to growth and the mariachi musical backdrop make for a memorable queer romance. Jessica Agudelo

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2024
Mariachi is everything to seventeen-year-old Mexican American Rafael Casimiro Álvarez, given his natural singing talent and the musical chops that run in his family. After the death of his abuelo, upholding his mariachi legacy becomes a way to cope with the loss. When Rafie's family moves from (fictional) North Amistad to San Antonio at the start of his senior year, he expects to be lead vocalist in his new school's perpetually second-place mariachi group, Todos Colores. His hubris wins him few fans and he is instead made to sing backup for Rey, a cute boy Rafie hooked up with at a party during the previous year's Mariachi Extravaganza Nacional competition. Rafie's ambition forces him to suppress his lingering feelings for Rey, but both find their mutual attraction difficult to ignore. Determined Rey, who is afromexicano and trans, is an antidote to Rafie's attitude, as are the queer and proud members of Todos Colores, a fully realized group who celebrates their Mexican heritage, and counter any mariachi conventions steeped in machismo and homophobia (as addressed in an author's note). The use of Mexican argot adds relatable humor, while Rafie's frustrating road to growth and the mariachi musical backdrop make for a memorable queer romance.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from February 28, 2025

Gr 9 Up-On the heels of their Stonewall Honor book Ander & Santi Were Here, Garza Villa delivers another excellent romance set in San Antonio. Seventeen-year-old Rafael Casimiro Alvarez has moved there with his family following the death of his beloved abuelo, a seminal figure in his life and the original mariachi in the family. Rafie auditions for the lead vocalist in Todos Colores, the mariachi group at his new performing arts school, but he loses out to a familiar face, Rey Chavez, who is Afro-Latine, trans, and cute as a button. After all, they met-and made out-at last year's Mariachi Extravaganza de Nacional. A competitive rivalry between the boys gradually gives way to friendship and romance with readers rooting for them to overcome a host of obstacles from ambition, arrogance, and grief, to racism, homophobia, and transphobia to find the joy they so obviously deserve. Secondary characters are nuanced, memorable, and add much to the world of the novel. VERDICT With their third YA novel, Garza Villa has established themself as a leading writer of Latine stories, LGBTQIA+ stories, and romances-how fortunate for readers that they all coexist in the pages of a single book!-Jonathan Hunt

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