Alondra

by Gina Femia, Aida Reluzco (Read by)

Overview

In this contemporary YA coming-of-age novel from award-winning playwright Gina Femia, Alondra is a bisexual teen girl. She and her friends are wrestling their way through the summer—sometimes on the playgrounds of Coney Island, sometimes with their feelings and at home.

Sixteen-year-old Alonda loves professional wrestling. So when she meets a group of teens with aspirations of wrestling fame in her Coney Island neighborhood, she couldn’t be happier. So as the ragtag team works to put on a show to remember, Alonda leaves behind her old self and becomes Alondra―the Fearless One.

But with her conflicting feelings for King, the handsome leader of their group, and Lexi, the girl with the beautiful smile, Alonda has to ask herself: can she be as fearless outside of the ring as she is inside of it?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212388627
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	05/02/2023
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 5.70(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Gina Femia is an award-winning playwright and performer who has written over 30 plays that have been produced all over the country. As a bisexual writer, Gina is interested in uplifting queer narratives that embrace joy. She still lives in her hometown of Brooklyn, NY with her great husband, Freddy. Alondra is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

SCBWI Golden Kite Award Finalist

"There’s much to praise in this fast-paced and engaging debut, from the sense of found family that is part of Alonda’s life in multiple ways to the commentary on the impact of gentrification...A satisfying and joyful read." —Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

From the Publisher

★ 2023-01-25
Against the backdrop of a Coney Island summer, a 17-year-old Puerto Rican teenager tries to find her place in the world.

Alonda Rivera thought she had her summer figured out: She’d get a job, like usual, and beg her guardian, Teresa, to get air conditioning (again). But everything changes when she looks out her apartment window and sees four neighborhood teens wrestling on the playground. Watching wrestling is Alonda’s absolute favorite thing, and she decides she’s going to join them. King, Spider, Pretzel, and Lexi (the only girl in the multiracial group) don’t put up much resistance to including her. Instead, the obstacles are overprotective Teresa and Alonda’s own undecided heart. Italian American Teresa was Alonda’s mother’s best friend until Mami died a decade ago. As for her heart, things are a little complicated: Although she’s romantically interested in King, talking to Lexi lights something up inside her. As she tries to navigate Teresa’s rules and her feelings for these new friends, Alonda, who adopts the alter ego Alondra, must learn to be fearless, just like Mami before her. There’s much to praise in this fast-paced and engaging debut, from the sense of found family that is part of Alonda’s life in multiple ways to the commentary on the impact of gentrification.

A satisfying and joyful read. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews