The Making of Yolanda La Bruja -- Lorraine Avila, Hardcover

Elizabeth Acevedo has said that reading Lorraine Avila feels like an "UPPERCUT to the senses." You've never encountered an author with prose of this sensitivity and fire.

Yolanda Alvarez is having a good year. She's starting to feel at home Julia De Burgos High, her school in the Bronx. She has her best friend Victory, and maybe something with José, a senior boy she's getting to know. She's confident her initiation into her family's bruja tradition will happen soon.

But then a white boy, the son of a politician, appears at Julia De Burgos High, and his vibes are off. And Yolanda's initiation begins with a series of troubling visions of the violence this boy threatens. How can Yolanda protect her community, in a world that doesn't listen? Only with the wisdom and love of her family, friends, and community - and the Brujas Diosas, her ancestors and guides.

The Making of Yolanda La Bruja is the book this country, struggling with the plague of gun violence, so desperately needs, but which few could write. Here Lorraine Avila brings a story born from the intersection of race, justice, education, and spirituality that will capture readers everywhere.

The Making of Yolanda La Bruja is the book this country, struggling with the plague of gun violence, so desperately needs, but which few could write. Here Lorraine Avila brings a story born from the intersection of race, justice, education, and spirituality that will capture readers everywhere.

Author: Lorraine Avila
Publisher: Levine Querido
Published: 04/11/2023
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.90w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781646142439
Age Range: 12-18

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2023
Publishers Weekly 02/13/2023
Horn Book Magazine 03/01/2023 pg. 62

About the Author
Lorraine Avila (she/they) is a storyteller. Lorraine was born and raised in the Bronx, NY and is a first generation Dominican-American. Avila spent a decade as an educator in the K-12 education system. She has a BA from Fordham University in English, an MA in Teaching from New York University, and an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh. The Making of Yolanda La Bruja is her YA debut.