They Thought They Buried Us

by NoNieqa Ramos

Overview

Horror fan and aspiring film director Yuiza gets a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. But something is not quite right.

As one of the few students of color at Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy, Yuiza immediately feels out of place. A brutal work-study schedule makes it impossible to keep up with the actual classes. Every expense, from textbooks to laundry, puts Yuiza into debt. And the behavior of students and faculty is... unsettling.

Yuiza starts having disturbing dreams about the school's past and discovers clues about the fate of other scholarship students. It'll take all Yuiza's knowledge of the horror genre to escape from Our Lady's grasp.

Praise for They Thought They Buried Us
Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Award Longlist
Jacqueline Woodson Award for LGBTQ+ Children's/Young Adult Literature Finalist

"Fans of horror movies in particular will appreciate this creepy story that centers survival for queer, BIPOC characters in the face of white supremacy."—Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798765630112
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	14 - 15 Years

About the Author

NoNieqa Ramos is an educator and literary activist. Their work includes the young adult novels The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary and The Truth Is, as well as the picture book Hair Story. They believe Halloween is a lifestyle, not a holiday. If you're in Virginia, you might catch NoNieqa getting motorcycle lessons from their soulmate Michael or going indie bookstore hopping with their preciosos Jandi and Langston. Connect with their works on www.nonieqaramos.com or on the Latinx collective www.lasmusasbooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Ramos explores the struggles and complexities of being BIPOC in a mostly white and affluent environment with nuance and sensitivity. Reviewer Rating: 5"—Children's Literature

From the Publisher

2024-06-15
A sophomore is about to find out what happens when a dream school is really a nightmare.

Yuiza Rivera-Vásquez (she/her andthey/them) is accepted to a prestigious, predominantly white, girls’ boarding school, Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy, which is located upstate, hours from their home in the Bronx. She would rather stay home and make horror movies with her friends, but Mami is insisting she go and pursue a bigger future. After arriving on campus, it doesn’t take long for Yuiza and her mom to notice the statues of Christopher Columbus, Lewis and Clark, and Robert E. Lee, not to mention the school motto, “Manifest your destiny,” and the students of color doing service jobs for work-study. At night, wrapped in a Puerto Rican flag their mother gifted them, Yuiza starts to have dreams that point to the school’s long, sordid past. At times, the story is framed like a movie script (complete with alternate endings) from one of Yuiza’s beloved horror films. Against a mildly supernatural backdrop, Ramos demonstrates and comments on the worst elements of white supremacy, past and present. The claustrophobic setting is well executed, the social commentary around historical injustices is compelling, and the well-drawn characters include strong Puerto Rican representation. The messaging isn’t always seamlessly incorporated into the story, however, and experienced genre readers may delight in—or feel less than surprised by—the horror tropes that the final act leans heavily into.

Strongly atmospheric but wavering in its execution.(Horror. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews